The Killer Angels
by mattsmithfangirl
Summary: Carter Winchester witnesses the death of the last Divergent, Tris Prior. As punishment for Tris' actions, 8 kids from each faction are selected to compete in an annual fight to the death against the other factions, called the Hunger Games. Two kids from two factions come home. Will Carter, her best friend Matt, and her allies Tobias and Taylor survive the Games?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **

**Hello Fanfiction users! This is my first fic on this site. It's a Divergent/Hunger Games crossover.**

**I really hope you enjoy it. I'm going to update everyday (I hope. I'm a big procrastinator) and give this story some reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent or The Hunger Games. I wish I did though. Some of these characters are mine. The models for the characters are: Matt-Matt Smith Carter-Jenna Coleman Taylor-Shailene Woodley Tobias-Theo James. (I don't own them either. I wish I did.) **

Tris Prior was standing on a stage, right in the heart of our city. Two armed men stood at her side. I stood next to my brother Gabriel in our faction's section of the grounds. Tris' blonde hair hung in her face as she looked down at the ground, her wrists bounded to two metal posts on the huge stage in the city. We were all gathered here on a moment's notice, and no one knew what was going on. This was probably going to be a public flogging, over the past week; they've been doing hundreds of these in all the factions. I hear rude things being yelled at Tris. They'd probably whip her, and then bring her back to prison, like they did with all the rest of the Divergents. My brother taps my shoulder.

"What are they gonna do to her, Carter?" He quivers. He was 17, but he hated violence, and was scared for Tris. To be honest, I was too. They'd already killed 17 Divergents out of maybe 160 or so that they flogged. I watched people die. It was the most horrible thing I've ever seen. The cries of agony piercing through the city, the pleads for it to stop. It was terrifying. Truly terrifying.

"Y'know Gabe, I'm not sure. I really don't know. But be grateful that you're not up there." I sigh.

We didn't stick out, my brother and I, we blended in with the rest of our faction, wearing blue, and had glasses. I was wearing black converse sneakers, skinny jeans, and a grey t-shirt underneath a blue V-necked sweater. My black glasses were sitting haphazardly on my face; we left in a rush.

I ruffled my hair and Gabriel nudged me with his elbow as our nation's leader stepped on stage. Jeanine Matthews. Even her name was scary. She was the woman who organized all of this, the floggings, the executions, everything. All the torture of the Divergents. Jeanine had somehow managed to capture all the Divergents. She made us all go through what the Dauntless call the 'fear landscape'. You were injected with a serum invented by the Dauntless, and you fell into a deep sleep. You woke up in a dream like world, and you had to go through your fears; like I have a fear of a lot of fire, because my brothers died in a fire. I was in the middle of a burning building, and I had to find my way out, before I moved onto my next fear. For only being 18, I've seen some messed up stuff.

"Welcome citizens of Dauntless, Amity, Abnegation, Candor and Erudite. We are all gathered here today for the public execution of Beatrice Prior, the last living divergent member of our society." Jeanine says, smirking. What? Last Divergent? That doesn't make any sense, she had hundreds of them locked up in prison; not that it was right, but they were all locked up. She must have killed them all, and saved Tris for last. She was, after all, the one who started all this. I feel angry, angry because this was going on, angry because Jeanine killed hundreds of innocent people who didn't do anything wrong, angry because Jeanine was now going to kill the legendary Tris Prior, angry because Jeanine is our leader.

The Dauntless members who were next to our faction roared with pure anger. They didn't want to see Tris die. Tris was their hero, their motivation. Killing her could cause riots, even worse, another war.

"We execute this being today to show that rebellion in this nation will get us nowhere. After the execution, you all will go through your fear landscapes. 8 children from each faction will go to participate in a fight to the death with the children from other factions. The last surviving boy and girl from two factions will come home safe and sound, and will be bathed in riches. I have a system of how I will pick the children, and what ages, but why would I tell you? You'd all avoid it then." Jeanine laughs what I think is evilly. There is supposed to be a couple leaders from each faction to run the city. There is, but Jeanine took charge with all this going on.

Everyone goes crazy. I hear cries of "Down with the factions, down with the factions!" I feel like joining them, but I don't want to get punished.

"ENOUGH!" Jeanine roars.

Everything is silent. No one moves, no one a talk, even everyone's breathing is silent.

"Any last words, Miss Prior?" Jeanine asks, Tris, a grim look on her face.

"I regret nothing." She croaks. Those are the best last words I've ever heard. Like I've heard many.

"Oh, enough." Jeanine stresses, she is obviously fed up with Tris. Jeanine just wants to see Tris Prior die.

Tris went to Dauntless from Abnegation, only the second person to do that in our city's history. I don't know the other person. I remember at my Choosing Ceremony hearing Tris' blood sizzle over the dauntless coals. Her brother came to us. Tris and Caleb and I are the same age, and it kind of scared me that Tris and Caleb have been through so much, and now Tris was about to die at the age of 18. The only surviving member of the Prior family would be Caleb.

"Guards, do your honors." Jeanine laughs. No, I don't want to see her die. I can't possibly watch another person die. At least Tris will be the last person to die in this horrible, horrible situation we're currently in.

The guards at Tris' sides put the guns up to her head. I can't watch. I can't see her die.

"I'm sorry Tris." I mutter.

Tris was always kind to me at school when we were younger. We would play together and talk quite often.

I see Tris pick her head up, and she looks right at me and smiles.

"Hi Carter." She mouths. I clamp my hand over my mouth, and look into Tris' bright blue eyes.

"Hi, Tris. I'm sorry." I mouth back, choking back a sob.

Tris grins at my small action. I was the last person to make her smile.

"1, 2, 3!" Jeanine yells, and two shots go off.

Tris Prior crumples to the ground, the life sucked out of her, lying in a pool of her own blood.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **

**Hello! My friend really wanted me to update right now, so here it is. I was watching Supernatural all morning and she was bugging me to update. **

**Disclaimer- I do not own The Hunger Games Trilogy or the Divergent Trilogy **

"All children from the ages fifteen through eighteen will go to their faction's Justice Building." Jeanine announces. "There, you will all go through your fear landscape, and this will determine if you are a tribute or not. This competition will now be named The Hunger Games. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor."

No. Not my fear landscape. I already had to do that once, and I did not like it at all. I'm not scared of much, but what I am afraid of, I'm terrified of it.

Jeanine walks off stage, and a bunch of guards, called peacekeepers (they didn't make peace, they did the floggings), round up us kids who are eligible for the Games and take us to the Justice Building. My brother and I were separated, and that's not a good thing. I stand on my tiptoes to try and get a glimpse of him somewhere, and I see him chattering with his buddy Joe. I feel a hand on my shoulder and spin around quickly, almost tripping over a stone. It's just my best friend Matt.

"Don't scare me like that, you jerk." I angrily say and playfully punch him in the arm as we continue the walk to the Justice Building.

"Well, y'know, it's my job to do those kinds of things to you, Carter." Matt laughs, tipping his head back, his floppy brown hair going with him.

"Well, Matthew, I don't like it."

"I'm sorry. Am I forgiven?"

"No." I cross my arms across my chest.

"Yes I am."

"You're right." I finally give in, and smile just a bit as we walk up the concrete stairs entering the Justice Building.

We're all leaded into this big waiting room with royal blue walls and a huge white couch that lines the walls. The room is connected to four other smaller rooms where the fear landscape tests will be given. As a Dauntless instructor goes into each room, I get a small glimpse at what's inside. A metal chair sits in the middle of the room all by itself. There is a counter attached to the wall that's got boxes full of syringes and simulation serum to give all of us. Within an hour or two, I'll be in my fear landscape.

I look around at all the Erudite children around me. Matt and I sit down on the couch and I start examining everyone. I see friends of mine, I see friends of Matt, and I see friends of Gabriel. There are small, trembling fifteen year olds who obviously had never done this before, then there were confident, laid back, not caring eighteen year olds like me and Matt who couldn't give a damn about all this Hunger Games squabble. They call in the first names.

"James Abbey, Room One. John Abdul, Room Two. Harriet Ashton, Room Three, and Logan Atlas, Room Four. We're going in alphabetical order, so if you're at the end, make yourself comfy." A dark skinned woman says, holding a clipboard with papers sticking out of it standing outside the farthest door on the left, which is apparently Room One.

Alphabetical order? Really? I'm going to be here a while. My last name is Winchester. Right now is the only time I've ever hated my last name.

My parents are John and Mary Winchester. They are both Abnegation born. They started dating when they were fifteen. My dad's aptitude test said that he was Dauntless, while my mother was Abnegation. They didn't want to separate, so they agreed to both transfer to Erudite where they would end up raising a family. I'm the oldest of the kids, then Gabriel, then Dean then Sammy, then the twins Elliot and Percy. It all changed when I was eight. Gabriel was seven at the time, Dean was two and Sam was barely a year old. Elliot and Percy were only a month or two old. I was up in my room reading something for school, when I smelled the smoke. I didn't know what was going on. I stepped out of my room and saw the entire hallway was ablaze. The orange fire was flickering, dancing almost, and teasing me. "CARTER!" My dad yelled. Percy and Elliot's nursery was down that hallway. "Get out!" He roared.

'Are they out?' I thought to myself. Maybe if I ran fast enough through the flames, I could see if they were in there. No, I wouldn't be able to do it; I wouldn't be able to make it, without killing myself, or the twins. So in total regret, I bolted down the stairs, feeling the heat of the fire behind me, racing me down the stairs. My dad pushed me out of the house, and we all gathered in the road as the fire company came. I thought the twins were out. I glanced at my family. Mom's there, Dad, there's Gabe, Sam and Dean.

"Where are Percy and Elliot?" I had asked.

"They're gone now, sweetie." My sobbing mother told me. I saw and heard one of my brothers cry every day, but I NEVER EVER saw mom cry.

"What do you mean, gone?" I ask carefully.

"They burned up, dear. They died in the fire." My mother sobs.

The fire department said we were lucky. There was a gas leak, and the house could've exploded at any minute with us in it. They tried to rescue Percy and Elliot, but they couldn't find anything. After that we got a new house and stuff, but I was still scared of fire. Dean is twelve now, and Sammy just turned eleven. Thank god they didn't have to see the horrors I saw today. Jeanine only called the citizens down (if you were sixteen, you were considered a citizen) and the fifteen year olds because of this Hunger Games mumbo jumbo.

The first of the first four kids to go in the fear landscape comes out. It was the girl, Harriet. She was sixteen. She sits down among the three hundred of us. She just sits there like she was just petrified. Her friends comfort her, and I hear many whispers of "Are you okay?" Someone else is called into the room, and the kid stands up. He was scrawny and thin. He was fifteen, and was shaking just a bit. He goes into the room. I lay my head on Matt's shoulder, and Matt runs his hand over my hair, brushing it out of my face.

"I do have to admit, I'm a bit scared." I reveal.

"Hey, it's alright, babe. I am too." Matt always calls me babe. It's just kind of a thing we have. He kisses my forehead, and squeezes my hand just a little for reinforcement.

Hours go by before one of us is called.

"Matt Oswald, Room Four." The woman calls out.

"Good luck. You'll do fine." I tell him.

"I know." He whispers in my ear, and then turns around and walks into Room Four.

Those three minutes that I was alone, I was scared. What if I get into the Games? What if I die in the Games, and leave Matt alone? Horrible thoughts race through my mind. Matt comes back out and sits down with me, instead of going home, like most kids.

"How was it?" I ask him.

"Horrible." He says, now putting his head on my shoulder. He needs to let his feelings out to me.

"How so?"

"I had to leave you in a fire. You were on one side of it, I was on the other. This huge, roaring fire separated us."

"Matt, I'm sorry." I kiss his cheek.

"No, please, don't be."

"Matt, is there anything else you want to tell me?" I ask kindly. "Spill your feelings or something?"

"I love you." He blurts out.

"What?"

"I love you. I always have. It's all about you. It's always been you."

"I love you too." I admit.

Matt and I were always just best friends. Wherever I was, he was there too. Wherever he was, I was with him too. It's always been Matt and Carter, Carter and Matt. Then, when I was at the mere age of eleven, I started crushing on him. I always kept it a secret until now. I didn't want to ruin our perfect friendship with love. It would get really awkward really fast. Not now. It's not awkward anymore.

"Really?" Matt asks with a touch of surprise in his voice.

I nod my head.

"Since we were eleven. I didn't want to ruin our friendship."

"Would you possibly consider being my girlfriend?" Matt stutters.

"I would."

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yeah, I will." I smile.

"Carter Winchester, Room One, Gabriel Winchester, Room Two."

"Good luck." Matt smiles.

I see my brother stand up at the same time I do. I smile at him and proceed into Room One.

A man of about 23 stands in the room. I shut the door behind me as I enter. He had black hair and the bluest eyes I've ever seen. He was tall, about 6'2. He wore all black, and had a tattoo of barbed wire on his collarbone.

"Carter, right?" The man asks.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Great. Take a seat, Carter." He motions to the chair in the center of the room.

I sit down in the chair, and rest my arms on the arm rests.

"My name is Thomas, and I'll be doing your simulation today, I'm just going to inject you with the serum, and you have to get out of your fear landscape as soon as possible, alright?"

"Yeah, I've done it before, when Jeanine was testing for Divergents." I tell him.

"Good, so you know what you're doing." Thomas laughs.

I smile.

Thomas swabs the area on my neck where the injection will go. He uses rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball. The liquid is cold on my skin, and goose bumps rise on my arms. Thomas gets the serum into the syringe.

"Ready?" He asks.

"Yeah, I guess."

He plunges the needle into my skin. I barely feel it.

"In sixty seconds, the serum will kick in. Good luck, Carter." I start to feel really drowsy. The room starts to spin, and I blink a couple times. Eventually, I can't even keep my eyes open. They flutter shut.

I'm standing in a burning house. Fire surrounds me in a ring. I hear my father calling for me, but I'm trapped. Smoke rises around me as the circle of fire starts to cave in on me, going to kill me.

If I run fast enough, I won't catch on fire. I sprint out of the circle and down the stairs and outside the house. I examine myself. I am not on fire. The scene changes. Four chairs sit in an empty room, with me in the middle, holding a gun tight in my hand. Suddenly, my brothers and Matt are sitting in the chairs, their wrists bound to them.

"Carter, please, don't do it, please." Gabriel begs.

"You wouldn't." Matt scoffs.

"Carter, what's going on?" Dean asks me.

I have to shoot them. I must kill them.

I aim the gun at Gabriel's head. I squeeze the trigger.

Next is Dean. I aim, and squeeze the trigger.

Sam. Aim, squeeze the trigger.

"You monster." Matt spits at me.

I aim, and squeeze the trigger.

The scene changes again, and I'm in an empty field, but I'm tied to a wooden post.

Black spiders emerge from the ground and start coming for me. I breathe heavily. I notice a jagged rock lying on the ground next to the post, and I manage to grab it. I drag it across the rope continuously until the rope snaps in half. The spiders almost reach me. I use every last bit of energy I have to get away from them. The field just keeps going on and on, and doesn't end. I notice a puddle on my left. I run over to it, and put my feet in it.

I awake in the chair.

"That was good, three fears in four minutes." Thomas says.

"It felt like forever." I swallow, catching my breath.

"Yeah, I know. Alright, Carter, you're free to go. Have a good day."

"You too." I say, exiting the room.

"How did it go?" Matt asks, standing up.

"Alright."

"Wanna talk?"

"No."

"Okay then. I'll walk you home."

The two of us walk hand in hand back to my house.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **

**Hi guys! Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I was really busy. Guardians of the Galaxy was awesome. Anyway, enjoy this next chapter!**

Matt walked me home, and dropped me off with Gabriel behind me.

Together, my brother and I walked up the blue porch steps and opened the door into our home.

"We're back!" I announce.

"We're in the kitchen!" My mother yells back.

I proceed into the kitchen while Gabriel goes upstairs into his room. When I enter the kitchen, my mother hugs me, and asks me how the fear landscape went.

"It was alright." I lie.

"They called us." Dad speaks quietly. "Told us that they're picking the names tomorrow. The Reaping, they call it."

"And tomorrow, I promise you that I'll be sitting right here with you for dinner."

"Carter, you can't promise me that." My father croaks.

"Yes I can Dad! I couldn't give a damn about all of this!" I angrily raise my voice.

And I did mean what I said; I really couldn't care about any of this. All I wanted was a normal life with a normal family and normal friends and a normal job; not for me to possibly be put into a fight to the death against other factions. I was only a kid, and I was probably going to die.

"But Carter-"

I cut my father off.

"No. I'm done." I stomp upstairs to my room. Before I close the door, I see Dean sobbing into his pillow in his room. His room was adjacent from mine, and his door was cracked open. He just turned thirteen, and was pretty tough.

I peer in his room and hear his muffled sobs. I knock gently on the door, praying that he'd let me in. I needed to know what was up with my little brother.

"Dean? Dean, it's Carter, can I come in?"

"Wha?" Dean lifts his head up from the pillow, his eyes puffy and red from crying.

"Can I come in?" I ask again.

"Yeah, yeah, come in."

I enter his room. Books were scattered across the floor along with various toys and clothes. Looked kinda like my room. He had posters of famous scientists on his walls, Einstein, Newton, Darwin, all the greats. He was building some kind of contraption, a bunch of blueprints and crumpled up paper and prototypes were haphazardly strewn across his desk. Dean was a smart kid, smarter than all the kids in his grade, just like I had been.

"What's the matter, bud?" I inquire kindly, sitting down next to him.

"Mom told Sam and me what's happening. She said to say my goodbyes to you and Gabe now because by this time tomorrow, you might not be here." He sobs again, tears pouring out of his eyes like a running sink faucet.

"No Mom was wrong. Dean Alexander Winchester, you look me right in the eyes." I order him.

He does, and I stare into his crystal green ones. I can see into Dean, remembering the good times we had together as kids.

"I will be here tomorrow, and so will Gabe. I'm not leaving you, Dean. I'll never leave you." I tell him, embracing him into a hug. "And I swear that if I do get in, I'll win for you."

"You would?" Dean's voice cracks.

I nod, and kiss the top of his head.

"I would." I leave his room and enter mine. I clear a path of papers on the floor so I can walk. I flop down on my bed and think about how my family's life would be like if I died in the Games. Matt wouldn't have a girlfriend, Dean, Sam and Gabriel wouldn't have a sister, Mom and Dad wouldn't have a daughter. My inventions would never get out there, and I would never do anything good for the factions. I wouldn't be missed by many, but those who did miss me would have a gaping hole in their hearts where I used to be. I don't want to go into the Games, I don't want some Dauntless hotshot killing me. I just want to live my life like I was meant to. I was supposed to live a good life.

I turn on a lamp and my music. The music relaxes me as I run my hands through my hair, suddenly questioning all my life choices.

I pick up the phone next to my bed and dialed the number I knew so well. I place the phone up my ear, and hear it ring once, twice, three times, four times, five times before Matt picks up.

"'Lo?" He answers, he sounds like he's eating.

"Matt I don't want to die."

"What? Carter, you're not going to get picked, there's way too many of us for you to get picked."

"But what happens if I do?"

Matt puts it as it is. "You win. You win for me, you win for your parents, you win for Gabe and Sam and Dean."

"You always know just what to say." I tell him.

"Yeah, I know."

The next morning, my father wakes me up at 8:45.

"Hey, Carter." He whispers, brushing a piece of hair out of my face as my eyes snap open. "It's reaping day, sweetie. We gotta be at the Hub at 9:30, so get moving." My father kisses my cheek and leaves my room.

I drag myself out of bed, and the first thing I do is go into the bathroom and brush my teeth. I run the water in the sink until it's warm. I splash some on my face, and then douse a washcloth in it. I lather the washcloth with soap, and then thoroughly scrub my face. I splash more warm water on my face, and it washes off the soapy bubbles. I brush my hair until it's flat and smooth, and then pull it back. I wrap a hair tie around it three times so it stays in place. I head back into my room to decide what I'm going to wear. I swing open the door to my closet and examine my clothes. I choose a pair of dark navy blue jeans, and throw them on my bed. I then choose a navy blue tee-shirt with a sweater to go over it. I take off my green pajama shirt and trade it for the blue one. I button the sweater over it, and then change into the jeans. I look at my clock, and it reads 9:00. I have to hurry. I quickly put on a pair of socks, and tie black converse. I run downstairs, where my mom has a plate of waffles waiting for me on the counter.

"Hey, before you eat, your father and I want to talk to you." My mom whispers, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"We love you so much, no matter what happens." My father tells me, embracing me in a hug.

"Why do you always say it like I'm going to get picked?" I ask.

"We don't mean it, Carter. We're just worried. You would be too." My mother explains.

"We love you Carter."

They pull me into a hug, and this time, I hug back. You never know, this could be the last breakfast I have with my parents. The people who raised me to be who I am now. I am Carter Winchester because of them, and I couldn't be prouder of myself.

I sit down at the counter and engulf my waffles.

"Dean? You almost ready? They're sending peacekeepers to escort us to the Hub!" My mom yells up the stairs to my little brother.

He bolts down the stairs with Sam behind him.

They both hug me.

"Hey, what's all this for?" I ask with my mouth full of waffles.

"We already gave Gabe his hugs, Carter. It's your turn now." Sam says, his words muffled by the hug.

I wrap my arms around my little brothers.

"Hey, it's all going to be alright." I tell Sam.

"I hope."

As I predicted, at 9:30 on the dot, our doorbell rings. My father answers it, and it's peacekeepers.

"The Winchesters?" one asks.

My father nods.

"Come with us."

Gabriel pushes me out the door and I look back and smile at him. He smiles right back at me. As we leave the house, I see all the families on our street being escorted to the Hub. I see Matt walk out his door in trousers that are too short, a sky blue button up, navy blue suspenders and bowtie, and a tweed jacket. I shake my head at him and his fashion choices. He just smiles, and gives me two thumbs up. When we get to the Hub, we're jam packed into our faction's sector. Matt and his father are next to us, but his father, Rory, talks to my father. They were best friends growing up. Matt shakes Gabe's hand.

"Good luck, man." Gabe tells him.

"Same to you, my friend." Matt replies.

Matt takes my hand in his, and whispers good luck in my ear.

"Welcome, factions of Erudite, Dauntless, Amity, and Candor to the reaping of the First Annual Hunger Games. Here's how it works. In each age group, the fastest male and female to get out of their fear landscape will be selected to go into the Games. There will be tributes from the ages fifteen to eighteen. The last surviving male and female from two factions will go home, and will be bathed in riches. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor." Jeanine announces as she walks on stage. She holds a black clipboard in her hands, and it's pressed against her chest.

"Let us start with the Dauntless. For the fifteen year old males, we have Michael Biggs."

There is silence as the boy walks onstage, shaking. "For the ladies, Bella Sharp."

I don't pay attention to any of the other ages except for our age group to see who would be a potential opponent.

"For the eighteen year old males, we have Tobias Eaton." As the tall, lean, muscular boy walks onstage, the Dauntless cheer the number four over and over and over again. "And for the ladies, Taylor Harrison." A girl with brown hair and brown eyes walks up on stage next to the boy, Tobias, and they stand very close together, they were probably dating.

I'm kind of in a nervous daze for the rest of the factions, but I do listen to the eighteen year olds. For Amity, it's a scrawny pair named Annie Grace and Joey Hubert. For the Candor, it's a mean looking pair named Jack Brown and Donna Mitchell. Abnegation is Jo Taylor and Daniel Roberts. Then, it's time for the Erudite. Dozens and dozens of kids stand on stage, anxiously waiting for eight more to join them. Jeanine glances at her clipboard, memorizing the names of the two fifteen year olds about to walk on stage. I squeeze Matt's hand to stop myself from shaking out of nervousness.

"It's alright." Matt whispers in my ear, his soft lips brushing against my skin.

"For the fifteen year old males, Alexander Wood." A tall brown haired boy walks on stage, being the first Erudite tribute. The girl to join him is Amelia Black, a girl who lived down the street from us.

The sixteen year olds are Peter Jefferson and Rose Wilson. Then, a dreaded age group. I pray silently that my brother wouldn't be picked. Jeanine glances at her clipboard one more time.

"Connor Marshall."

It wasn't my brother. Thank god it wasn't Gabriel. I see my mother hug my brother tightly, and release him as he sighs of relief. Jeanine calls a girl, it was Lauren Smith. Then came my age group. My stomach was turning and I couldn't seem to relax.

"The final tributes had fantastic times coming out of the fear landscape." Jeanine announces, proud of whoever the tributes were. "The final male tribute is Matthew Oswald." No. It's Matt. They can't take my Matt. I hold his hand tighter than ever before.

"Carter, you gotta let go." Matt whispers with a slight smile. "Please. For me." I let go of his hand, and he walks onto the stage. He looks muscular up there with all the other tributes, and he smiles at me on stage. He nods his head, signaling that everything would be alright.

"And the final tribute for the First Annual Hunger Games is" Jeanine looks at the clipboard one last time. "Carter Winchester."

That's me. I'm Carter Winchester. I see Dean look at me, and I can almost hear his heart break.

My mother sobs into my father's chest as I leave my family to go onstage next to Matt.

"I present to you, the tributes of the First Annual Hunger Games! Good luck, and may your odds be ever in your favor."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So I've been really busy with camp and I wouldn't have time to update so my good friend dauntlessquiddich wrote this chapter! This was only a one time thing but the chapter is awesome and she kind of owed me one. Please tell me what you think and check out her account. Please favorite, follow and review this story! Thanks guys :)**

**Disclaimer- I own nothing except for my made up characters. I'm proud of them. **

After the reaping, we are all brought into rooms in the justice building. We all share with three others. Mine consists of Matt, the two 18 year olds from Dauntless, and I. Our families should be coming soon, so we just sit in silence until they get here. Mine arrives first.

I run into the embrace of my parents arms. They are crying quietly into my shoulder. I pull away from them.

"Matt and I are going to win." I assure them. "We'll come home for you."

"We never doubted that, Carter." My mother says. I hug them one last time and then turn to Dean.

"I told you I'd win for you. I still will. I'll see you when I get home." I give Dean a hug and finally turn to Sam and Gabe. I give them each a hug, and tell them that I will come home.

I give everyone one last hug and my parents go over to Matt.

"You better bring her home safe and sound. Please take care of her." My father says. He trusted Matt with his life. He liked Matt, and Matt's father, Rory, was best friends with my dad.

"Of course. I'll protect her with my life. Not that she'll need any protection. She's better than us all." Matt replays confidently. He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

My parents smile and hug Matt.

"Goodbye, Carter." They say and leave. A second later, three people I don't know enter the room. Only one family is allowed at a time. Weird rule, but whatever.

The Dauntless girl gets off of the couch where she is sitting, holding the Dauntless boy's hand and hugs who look like they're her parents. She then hugs the other boy that came in the room with them. He looks a few years younger than us. Probably around 15 or 16. I observe.

"You have to win this, Taylor." He says.

The Dauntless girl, Taylor, laughs. "I will. Don't worry about me. I'm Dauntless. I came in second in initiation for a reason. It's not my fault Tobias got first. Were going to team up. He can win this thing easily." Not bad. First and second Dauntless initiate rankers. They would be good to make an alliance with.

Taylor's brother turns to the Dauntless boy, Tobias. "Be good to her."

Tobias chuckles. "I will, I will."

Taylor gives her family one last hug and goes back to sit down with Tobias. Her family leaves and an old Abnegation man enters the room. I recognize him as the Abnegation leader, Marcus Eaton. Tobias freezes when he comes in and Taylor stands up in front of him.

"Leave." She orders.

"No." Marcus replies. "I came to say good riddance, I mean goodbye to my son."

"You are no father to him."

Marcus takes his belt off and holds it out so Taylor can see it. "You see, this is for his own good." He turns to Tobias who is still frozen. "I hope you die in that arena. Against the wall."

Tobias gets up, looking still paralyzed in fear, and stands against the wall.

"Shirt." Marcus orders.

Tobias lifts his shirt, revealing a tattoo of Dauntless flames, a tattoo of each of the faction symbols, and many healed scars.

"This is for your own good." Marcus says and he lifts the belt. Right as he's bringing it down, Taylor jumps in and the belt cracks and wraps around her wrist. Then, she gets a grip on the belt and rips it out of Marcus' grasp. Tobias snaps back to reality and punches Marcus in the face. He falls to the ground and scrambles back to his feet.

"If you live, you will pay." Marcus says before walking out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Tobias pulls Taylor into a hug.

"Just like that time in my fear landscape. Why did you do that?" He asks.

"I couldn't just let him beat you again. I think you should explain to the Erudites over there. They're giving us strange looks." Taylor replies and Tobias lets her go.

He turns to Matt and I. "All those articles you Erudites wrote about Marcus abusing his son was true."

My jaw drops. I thought we just put those articles out to get the other factions to turn against Abnegation! I look over at Matt and he has the same reaction I did. Before either of us can say anything, Matts family comes in and he says his goodbyes to them.

Soon, we are alone in the room again, waiting for our escort to take us to the train we will take to wherever they're taking us to get ready to go into the arena. When she comes, she looks like an Amity person who ate too much of their drugged bread.

"Hello dears! Come now. I will take you four to your train." She says with a huge smile on her face. Matt and I get up and Taylor shoves Tobias towards the door.

"You heard her. Go on Four." Taylor smirks at him.

Tobias rolls his eyes and picks Taylor up, throwing her over his shoulder. She yells at him to put her down. "This is what happens when you use my own name against me."

I turn to Matt. "What are they talking about?" I ask.

"I have no clue. Dauntless are weird. Maybe we should talk in Latin to confuse them, Carter." Matt grabs my hand and slips his fingers through mine.

I shrug and we follow the escort, Tobias, and Taylor, who is being carried by Tobias, to the train. Our own train. We enter it and gasp at the sight. It is more fancy than anything I have seen in my life. Chrystal chandeliers. Gold embroidering everything. It is amazing.

"I'll leave you to get settled." Our escort says, leaving the train car.

We all take a seat on the leather couches. "We should all get to know each other." Matt suggests. We all agree and Matt looks around, his eyes landing on me. "I think the beautiful Carter should go first."

I groan. "Fine. I'm Carter Winchester. I'm 18, my favorite color is blue, and I'm an engineer. I like soccer, and I hate being social." "Now for Matt."

"I'm Matt Oswald. I'm 18, my favorite color is also blue, I'm British, and I love soccer. Tobias."

I turn to look at Tobias. "I'm Tobias Eaton. I like to be called Four though. I'm 18, my favorite color is black, I am Dauntless after all, and I like to throw knives at my girlfriend's head." Taylor punches Tobias' arm.

"That was once." She whines.

He just smirks. "Your turn, Tay."

"I'm Taylor Harrison. I'm 18, I like black, and I like to ride my horse, Tango, and eat chocolate."

"So, it appears we will be on this train for a few days." I say.

Matt groans.

"More bonding time, apparently." Tobias says.

"You know, we should team up. With the four of us, we could win this thing. Go home." I say.

Taylor looks at Tobias and they make eye contact. Tobias shrugs.

"We're in." Taylor says.

"Great." Matt replies.

We now have our alliance.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hi guys! I thought I'd write a funny, lighthearted chapter today, because I didn't know what to write. Tomorrow's chapter will be more exiting and less boring, I promise. I hope you all had a great day, and I'll see you tomorrow! **

**Izzy out.**

Our escort comes back into the room, grinning from ear to ear. She'd been drinking; her eyes were the size of the moon. Erudites are trained to see the little things like these.

"I was so excited that all of you were here that I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Ruby Cobalt. I was told to inform you that you may take one small item to take into the arena with you. I have to call it in, so tell me what you want." Ruby smiles.

She was too nice for me. I wasn't exactly the friendliest person on Earth. Matt was very friendly, but not that friendly. Maybe it was the tone of her voice that put me on that path. Matt gives me a smug look, and I shake my head.

"The little blue sculpture my mother gave me." Tobias blushes, looking down at the ground.

"There's a locket, a gold locket of mine that I want." Taylor says.

"What do you want, dear?" Matt asks me.

"There's a small, brown leather bound book on my desk that I want. It has to be that book." I demand harshly.

"And you love?" Ruby guides towards Matt.

"It's a friendship bracelet, it's one of those rope ones, and it's green and blue and black striped, and it's really worn out." Matt smiles, recalling old memories.

"Alright, so a sculpture, a locket, a book and a bracelet. Got it. We'll be stopping tomorrow morning to pick up Jensen and Jared, your mentors. They'll give you tips and tricks on how to survive the games. Ruby claps her hands together, and leaves the room again.

I stand up and go to the alcohol cart.

"Anyone want anything?" I ask, rubbing my eyes.

"Yeah, just a shot of whiskey." Tobias raises his hands up, signaling he does want a drink.

I get him his drink, and then get my own, vodka mixed with lemon juice and club soda, a drink that at home we called the Amity, because it was kind to you, it didn't give you hangovers if you had too many. I could drink because the legal drinking age in Erudite was 16, after you completed initiation. You became an adult after initiation, so you could drink.

I sit down in my chair, and sip my drink.

"They better keep this stocked, I can't deal with that much happy for two weeks before I die." I laugh.

Tobias drinks his whiskey swiftly and smoothly.

"You don't know how much I agree with that." Tobias chuckles as he gets up to get another drink.

"Carter" Tobias starts. "I think you and I are very much alike. Very disgruntled." Tobias drains another shot, and goes for another. And another, and another.

Soon, we have a very drunk Tobias on our hands.

He was tipping over, and Matt caught him just in time. Meanwhile, I'm half-drunk myself, I had a variety of drinks. I sat in my chair, laughing hysterically.

Tobias cupped his hands around Matt's face, and uttered the funniest thing I've ever heard.

"Taylor, I love you so damn much. Too damn much. Be my wife, my sweet Taylor."

Then, Tobias tries to drunkenly kiss Matt. Matt drops him on the floor, and Tobias lands with a moan. I start laughing harder, finishing another drink.

Taylor's sides are almost splitting, and Matt is kind of just standing there thinking, 'oh god what have I done.' Soon enough, Tobias is passed out, Taylor and Matt are a little drunk, but now I'm the drunken one.

My speech is slurred as I slump down in my chair.

"Whatcha doing there, Carter?" Taylor asks me.

"I'm so tired. So damn tired. "

"Then maybe we should get you to bed."

Thank god I don't get bad hangovers. Taylor helps me up, and tries to help me walk.

"I can do it just fine. I'm independent." I pout.

"Yeah?" Matt giggles. "Let's see you try it, hotshot."

I let go of the firm grasp I had on the back of Taylor's shirt.

I take three wobbily steps forward towards the table. I trip over a chair leg, and trip, the corner of the table cutting my head.

"Damn it." I clamp my fingers against my head. Hot sticky blood seeps through my fingers and onto my shirt.

"Hey, you okay?" Taylor asks.

"Yeah. Yeah." I mutter, standing up, using a table for support. I had taken my hand off my face, and blood drips down my face.

"I don't think you're alright, come on babe, let's get you cleaned up." Matt grabs my arm and leads me into the bathroom. I sit on the counter, and Matt wets a washcloth, and dabs it on my forehead.

"How you feeling?" Matt asks.

"Tired. Slightly drunk." I tell him. "You still have the bracelet?"

"Are you kidding me? Oh yeah I do." Matt laughs, putting some kind of cream on my cut. He puts a bandage on it, and kisses the top of my head.

"Mine's in my book." I giggle.

"Yeah? Wanna sober up before you go to bed?" Matt asks, his hand grazing my cheek.

"I feel like crap, so sure. What can a couple hours do?" I say freely.

I manage to get back to my chair, and I see my unfinished drink sitting delicately on the table. I go to reach for it, but Taylor smacks my hand.

"What the hell?" I demand.

"You're not passing out like Tobias." Taylor tells me.

"Fine."

"So" Taylor starts. "Tell me a bit about yourself, let's not make you feel so drunk." Taylor laughs.

"Like what?" I ask, feeling a headache coming on. I rub my temples, and lean back in the chair.

"Who came in to see you, when we were reaped?"

"My mom and dad, Mary and John. My younger brothers, Gabriel, Dean and Sam." I tell her. "Why are we here again?"

My mind had forgotten what happened today, and I know I'll remember tomorrow, or even later. I scrunch my eyebrows, trying to remember. Matt and Taylor laugh at me. Not cool.

"I hate you guys, I'm going to bed." I mutter some swear words as I stumble into my bedroom. A set of pajamas were laid neatly on the bed. It was a black t-shirt and blue and black checkered pants. I change into them, and when I'm about to go to bed, I hear intense laughing.

"Matt, you're so wasted!" Taylor laughs hysterically. "Alright, I dare you to put Tobias in Alex's bed with her."

Oh god. I don't want that happening. I lock the door and press my weight against it.

"Grab his feet you stupid fool!" Taylor giggles. They try to open the door, but they can't. Thank god I locked it.

"Caaarrrrtttteeeeerrrrr" Matt says in a singsong-y voice. "I know you're awake, babe."

"Matt, go to bed." I tell him.

"Can I sleep with you?"

"Sure." Anything to get the both of us to sleep.

I let him in and say goodnight to Taylor.

Matt climbs in the bed, and pats a spot next to him, motioning for me to get in with him.

He takes his shirt off and throws it across the room. I crawl into bed with him, and bury my head in his bare chest.

"I love you." He giggles.

"I love you too."

I fall asleep to the sound of his heart beating.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hi guys! Here's the next chapter. Updating before I go to camp. Camp is tiring. I hope you all have a great day, and I'll see you tomorrow. Don't forget to favorite, follow and review! **

**Izzy out.**

"Carter. Matt. Get up." Tobias shakes me awake, and I just bury myself into Matt.

I moan and swat him away.

"Ruby's got your book." Tobias adds.

"I feel sick. Can you get it for me?"

"I do too, and Taylor forced me to get you up, she was too lazy." Tobias groans.

"I seriously feel like I'm going to be sick." I run into the bathroom, and after an hour, I feel like everything that I've ever ate was thrown up. I take some aspirin for my headache, and brush my teeth well. I wash my face with refreshing cold water, and go back into my bedroom. Both Tobias and Matt are gone, and Matt's shirt lies on the floor. I take my shirt off, and put his on. The shirt smells like him, the familiar scent I've come to known. I ruffle my hair, and flop down on the bed again, I have no strength to go out there. I hate hangovers. I manage to fall asleep, but only for fifteen minutes, because Matt shook me awake. He tells me that we're about to have breakfast. So with that, we walk into the room we were in last night, and we sit down at the table with Tobias and Taylor.

"Look what drunk is awake now!" Taylor snickers. I pick up the butter knife by my right hand and stab it between her middle and pointer fingers. It drives into the table, and sticks there. Taylor quickly draws her hand back.

"I'm not in the mood for jokes. Don't think that I don't remember you last night, you and Matt were wasted." I snap.

"I-I'm sorry." She stutters.

Tobias is laughing like a madman. He laughs so hard, he starts to cry.

"You go girl." He says between breaths, and we high five.

"Now, let's eat, shall we?" Matt says, taking the knife out of the table.

"Sure." Tobias starts grabbing pancakes. I grab two waffles, and put strawberry jelly on them. I cut them up, and take a bite. These were damn good waffles.

"The food is so good." Tobias chomps a mouthful of pancakes.

I indulge on waffles, fruit, sausage, bacon and pancakes until I can't eat anymore. Taylor and I finish, and somehow Matt and Tobias keep stuffing their faces.

"Aren't you full?" Taylor asks Tobias on his fourth stack of pancakes.

"Hell no." He shrugs.

Matt just keeps eating and eating like he'd never eaten before.

"How are you still eating?" I inquire.

"Carter. Have you ever seen me eat a meal before?" Matt asks, spitting everywhere.

"You have a point."

Tobias finishes just a minute before Matt. Matt drains a cup of orange juice then declares he's done. Finally. We lounge around until Ruby comes in. She has a box in her hands. Is my book in there? I hope it's my book.

"Good morning, everyone! How was last night? I heard a lot of ruckus coming from you silly kids." Ruby laughs.

"We all got totally wasted." Tobias declares plainly.

"Totally drunk." I admit.

"I understand." Ruby sympathizes.

"Can we have our stuff now?" Matt impatiently asks.

"Right, I almost forgot." Ruby laughs. "Silly me."

She takes out a golden necklace.

"Locket for Taylor…"

Taylor snatches her locket out of Ruby's hands. Ruby grabs another item out of her box. It's Matt's bracelet. He grabs it and puts it on, sighing in relief. He smiles at me, and shows it off. Ruby then gives Tobias his sculpture. Where's my book? I start to worry that Ruby didn't get my book.

"And a book for Carter." Ruby smiles.

I take it from her.

"Thank you!" I excitedly say, as I flip it open. On the first page, my matching bracelet with Matt is pinned onto the thin paper. I unpin it, and put it on. Matt and I fist bump.

"We'll be picking up Jensen and Jared, your mentors if you forgot, in about three hours, so be ready." Ruby informs us, and leaves the room.

"Now you'll have to explain to us the reason behind those bracelets." Tobias demands.

"When we were in what was it, Matt, second grade maybe? Anyway, when we were about seven or eight, we made these friendship bracelets, and promised to be friends forever, and we swore to wear them all the time. We wore them all day every day for about nine years." I smile.

"Wow, and you guys are still friends." Taylor says in amazement.

"Yeah, it was right before the fire." I recall.

"And what's the fire?"

"My house burned down, killing my twin little brothers, Elliot and Percy, and it almost killed me." I quietly say. "I don't like to talk about it, if you don't mind"

"Oh god, I'm sorry." Taylor apologizes.

"Nah, it's alright." I tell her.

"Can we know about the book then?" Tobias asks. I hand him the book.

The book was filled with pictures of Matt and I throughout the years. It was kind of like our friendship scrapbook. The first picture was from when we were a year old.

"Aw." I hear Tobias say as he flips through the pages.

"You guys were so cute." Taylor laughs.

"I know I'm adorable, isn't that right, babe?" Matt smirks at me. I nod and we kiss.

Tobias finishes looking at the book, and hands it back to me.

"Now explain your stuff."

Cadence opens her locket, and reveals a picture of her and Tobias and it looks like it was at the last day of initiation.

"The day we started dating." Taylor blushes beyond belief.

Tobias smiles, and kisses the tip of her nose.

"My mother gave me this before she died, to distract myself from the pain my father brought onto me. I hate that man with passion, and my mother deserved better then him." Tobias speaks out of pure anger.

"I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry." Matt says gently, he always knew what to say, he was always so kind.

"It's okay. You shouldn't worry about it, we're far away from him, and we'll all probably be dead in two weeks, so I'll never have to see that selfish pig ever again. I'll go to heaven while he rots in hell." Tobias snickers, and claps his hands together.

"Way to stay positive, mate." I laugh.

"Hey, I know you feel the same way." Tobias points at me.

"Not anymore. I promised my brother I'd win for him, and I don't break promises." I honestly tell him.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, we are going to die, but I gotta try, y'know?" I suggest.

"Somewhat." Taylor laughs.

"Well, I'm going to get dressed." I say, sorely standing up. I protrude to my bedroom and change into fresh clothes. It's just a red t-shirt and jeans, but it'll do. I walk back out to my friends, and Tobias and Taylor are kissing, and Matt hangs upside down from his chair.

Good to know I have a playful immature child for a boyfriend.

Ah, screw it, I still love him.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hi guys! Sorry I didn't update, I was at soccer camp, then had to go to my little brother's football practice, and it was very hectic. So here's the update. Don't forget to favorite, follow and review! I hope you all have a great day.**

At around three in the afternoon, the train stops at a station.

"Stay in here, don't go by the windows. Press will swarm you." Ruby warns us. I groan. I don't want to talk to people.

Two men board the train in our car. One was super tall, about 6'4 and had hair going down to his neck. The other was tall, but not as tall as the other, and had short, spiky hair, and the greenest eyes I'd ever seen. They both carry black duffel bags in their hands, and the shorter one carries a pillow in his right hand, unlike the super tall one.

"Carter, isn't it?" The tall one laughs.

"Uh, um, yeah." I stutter.

"Nice to meet you, Carter, I'm Jared."

"And I'm Jensen." The shorter man introduces himself. "We're your mentors; we're going to help you survive the Games."

"Fantastic. I'm Matt, you've met my girlfriend Carter, that's Taylor, and the dude is Tobias." Matt introduces us all.

"Nice to meet you." Jared smiles. "Now, could you tell us where the bedrooms are?"

"Down that hallway." I point.

"Thanks kiddo." Jensen laughs and ruffles my hair as he walks by. He and Jensen disappear into the hallway, and I smile. I liked them already.

I pour myself a glass of water from the table, and take a sip.

"What do you think of them?" I ask.

"They seem cool." Taylor says.

"Yeah." I agree.

"They look like they can really help us." Tobias nods.

"You think?" Matt questions.

"They're from Dauntless. I've seen them around the Compound. They've got more experience than the two of us, and they were the top two ranked in their initiate group. Apparently they're really good." Tobias informs us.

The two men return from the bedrooms, and they each pour themselves a scotch. They take a sip, and sit down at a table.

"So" Jensen starts. "First question, will you guys be allies, or do you want Jared work with Taylor and Tobias?"

"We're teaming up." Taylor tells him.

"Good, that's what we were hoping for." Jared says with a sigh of relief.

"We had our eyes on you four especially. We thought that you'd be strong competition. You four all look like you're clever and strong, not just strong and smart, being Dauntless and Erudite and all." Jensen smiles, taking another sip of his scotch.

"Really?" Tobias laughs in surprise.

"Oh yeah. We had first choice on who we got to mentor, and Jensen and I looked at each other, and we said we wanted you. Right from the start we wanted you." Jared smiles.

"Hm. Didn't know we were so great. I mean, I knew I was, but I never knew about the others." Tobias jokingly chuckles.

"You're a jerk." I punch him in the arm.

"Ow!"

"You deserved it, idiot." I scoff.

"I know."

Jared chuckles under his breath, and then gets serious.

"The other tributes may not be as strong as you four, but there is a slight chance they may be more cunning." Jared speaks.

"And that's why we're going to put you through training." Jensen pipes in.

"Fun." Matt rolls his eyes.

"Hey, it could be the difference between life and death."

"That could be good." Matt shrugs.

"Yeah, dimwit, it could be good. Not dying is always great." Taylor teases, and smacks him upside the head.

"Well I kinda think that we all need to protect each other and stay alive, and come home so we can all be BFFs forever." Tobias suggests.

"Yeah, like we're not going to be scared when we murder innocent children." Taylor argues.

"ENOUGH!" Jensen roars. "Stop fighting, we're all in this together."

"He's right." I agree.

"We can't just give up and then all go out there and kill each other when we get pissed." Taylor sighs.

"Now that we've got it all settled, let's talk facts." Jared says.

"No fires at night, good way to die. People will come and then they'll slice your throat. Second, no eating plants and berries that you don't know. Could be poison, and you'd be dead within a minute."

"Don't pick too many fights with other tributes, people will hate you then come after you. Thirty six versus four, I don't think your odds are that great." Jensen tells.

"That's really all for now, we'll get into greater detail when we get to the Capitol in about three days." Jared sighs.

"What's the Capitol?" Tobias inquires.

"It's the place where all the big shot politicians or rich people live. They're all nuts there. It's where the government is located. But as I said, they're all nuts." Jensen shutters.

"Great. More crazy people." Tobias shakes his head.

"And I thought the people back home were crazy." Taylor explains.

"Everyone's crazy in their own ways." I suggest.

"Especially you." Tobias laughs.

"I'll punch you again, but this time, in the nose." I threaten.

"Please don't." He whimpers.

"Scared?" I tease.

"Somewhat."

"Good."

Jensen and Jared finish their Scotch, and then Jensen slams his glass down on the table.

"Ah, that was good." He smiles in relief.

"What now?" I ask.

"I don't know." Matt says.

"So you're from Dauntless?" I ask Jared.

"Yeah. Second ranked initiate in our group. Jensen was first, of course." Jared laughs. "We trained initiates for a few years, then worked in the control rooms, and now we're here."

"Sounds fun." I laugh.

"Teaching the initiates was fun, actually."

"Really? I couldn't deal with a bunch of bratty kids." I sigh, wondering how they did it.

"It was a little hard at first, but then it got real easy. What do you do?"

"Engineer." I sigh. "I work a lot." I rub my eyes, remembering my stressful job.

"There, Jared. That's a job I could never ever do." Jensen laughs.

"Uh huh. Probably the worst job I could ever pick. I totally regret it." I nod.

"Work back home was hard." Matt agrees.

"Dauntless work was pretty easy."

"You're lucky then." I laugh.

They were very lucky.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hi guys! **

**Sorry for lack of update. I was busy. **

**Thanks so much for over 130 reads! I'm really proud. Think we can get it to 200? **

**I think so! **

**So I saw Guardians of the Galaxy for the second time today and they played the Maze Runner trailer and then the Mockingjay Part 1 trailer and I freaked out. It was awesome. **

**Anyway, I'll leave you to read. Don't forget to follow, favorite and review! **

**Disclaimer- I own nothing except my own characters. **

We rode on that goddamn train for another four days. It was starting to get annoying, trapped in a car with six other people. Don't get me wrong, I liked them all, but they could get annoying, with Taylor's annoying remarks, and Tobias being a clueless idiot sometimes, and Matt being an even bigger clueless idiot half the time, and Jensen and Jared getting drunk almost every night, and Ruby being way too perky for me to handle. I mean, I bet I was annoying to all of them too, but it was good to get into a different place, with new people, new faces.

"Alright, everyone off!" Ruby exclaims, shoving us all out of the train, and into a swarm of press. Jensen and Jared grab us by the arms, and drag us into a grey building. They pull us into an empty blue room. A table and four chairs rest in the room.

"What are we doing?" I ask.

"This is your prep room." Jensen says. "Hair and makeup and crap like that."

I groan.

"Tonight is the tribute parade! You'll be shown off to the sponsors and the citizens!" Ruby claps her hands together.

I roll my eyes.

"Do we have to?" Tobias pleads.

"Yes! We're showing off our proud tributes tonight." Jaren laughs.

"This is the biggest event of the year, and you're going to be the stars." Ruby swoons.

"Oh." Taylor mutters.

A man in tight jeans and a blue polo shirt with the collar popped up walks in the room. He had dark chocolate brown hair and green eyes and a great smile with perfect teeth. He was like a model.

"Ooh! They're here!" He joyously laughs, clamping his hands together in front of them.

"My name is Joey, and I'm gonna be y'all's stylist. My boyfriend Jeff and I had our eyes on you four, and when I got my pick, I picked you four right away." Joey grins. So he was gay. I'm good with that. There was nothing wrong with it. He seemed like a pretty cool guy. "And now it's my job to make you look your best. Taylor how bout you come in with me first, dear." Joey says, and Taylor stood up with a groan and followed him into the room connected to this one.

"We'll be back once it's parade time. Be good, and don't cause any trouble, and be nice to Joey, please. We'll see you later." Jensen, Jared and Ruby leave the room.

I lay down on the small couch in the room with Matt, my head resting on his lap.

He plays with my hair as I look up at the ceiling, endlessly counting how many tiles are strewn upon it. There were seven hundred seventy-seven tiles on the ceiling. I counted those seven hundred seventy-seven tiles three times before Taylor comes out of the prep room and I'm called in.

"Come with me, honey." Joey smiles. I stand up, and kiss Matt on the cheek, and go with Joey into the other prep room.

The room is white, and a metal table is in the middle of it. Showers line the walls, and a bunch of equipment lies on a silver tray. "Alright, dear, why don't you shower, and then we'll get you looking fabulous." Joey snickers.

"Okay." I say, and turn on the shower water, and I slip off my clothes, and enter the steamy water. I rinse my hair in soapy bubbles, and then rinse my body down. I shut off the water, and then exit the shower.

I see Joey has laid out some simple clothes for me, black shorts and a blue tanktop. I put the clothes on, and Joey motions for me to sit down on the table. I lay down as Joey starts to brush out my wet hair, the knots untangling and my hair smoothing out as Joey runs a comb and his hands through my hair.

"I think you're going to win."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"I'm not going to win." I scoff.

"You're strong, cunning, smart, and agile. When you were standing up on that stage, you looked strong, like you could carry your weight." Joey smirks.

"Really?" I ask looking up at him.

"Hell yeah, girl."

"Hm." I shrug.

"Alright, ready for waxing?" He asks.

"Oh god, really?" I nervously.

"Yeah, sorry Car."

"It's alright, just make it fast." I shrug.

Joey applies the hot wax to my legs, and then puts the applicators on it.

"Ready?" He asks.

"Alright, just do it."

Joey rips one strip off and I yell in frustration.

"Three more on this leg." Joey reassures.

"Yeah that's great." I snap sarcastically.

Joey pulls another one off, and I hiss through my teeth. He pulls off six more, two on my right leg and four on my left leg.

"Can I just yell for a minute?" I gasp after Joey's done waxing.

"Go ahead."

I yell for a couple of seconds, my voice cracking. I want to punch something, but I can't.

"You good Car?"

"Yeah, I'm good… I'm good." I gasp.

Joey paints my nails blue, and we bond over this time.

"Alright, Car, send Tobias in."

"Thanks Joey." I tell him, and exit the room, my legs stinging.

"Tobias, you're in." I tell him as I stiffly sit down on the couch next to Matt again.

"I heard you yelling in there, you good?"

"Yeah. He waxed my legs." I say, laying my head in his lap. I take his hand and play with his fingers.

He kisses my hand and then my forehead.

"Did he wax your legs?" I ask Taylor.

"No, thank god."

"That's so unfair." I pout. "That was probably the most intense pain I've ever been through."

Taylor laughs, mocking me.

"But seriously though, it was hell."

"You poor, poor soul." Taylor sympathizes me.

"I know." I say, taking self-pity.

Tobias comes back out within twenty minutes, and then Matt goes in.

Matt is done after a half an hour, and then Joey comes back as well.

"Let's go see your costumes, eh? It's prep time!"


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hi guys! Here's an update finally, thank god. I couldn't update yesterday, I was at a water park all day. Plus I had writers block, that's never a good thing. This is kind of a crappy chapter so if you don't like it, I can understand. Don't forget to follow, favorite and review! I hope you all had a good day, and I'll see you soon!**

**Disclaimer- I own nothing except my own characters. **

"Alright, if you all will follow me, we'll go take a look at your costumes." Joey excitedly says, and leads us into a room where four black bags hung on a rack, concealing our costumes.

To me, they look like body bags. I wouldn't be surprised to see the body of a dead Divergent kid in there.

"So each age category has their own outfits. All you eighteen year olds will be wearing the same thing, but just in your faction colors." Joey explains.

"Sweet, matching outfits." Tobias exclaims.

We all glare at him.

"Matching outfits aren't cool." Taylor snaps. Matt lets out a laugh, and Tobias gives him the death look. I smirk and look away.

"Alright, Joey let's see what our outfits are!" Taylor squeals.

Joey unzips one bag.

"I think this is Carter's. Jeanine picked out the costumes herself." Joey shrugs. He shows me what it is.

It's a pair of blue pants, a white button up blouse, and a blue tie. I had seen this on just about every Erudite woman ever. I sigh, remembering my mother wearing it, my friends wear it, me wearing it, Jeanine wearing it.

"Taylor has the same thing but in black."

Taylor rubs her eyes. "You Erudites and your fancy clothes."

"Hey it's not my fault." I say in my defense.

"Yeah, I know."

Joey unzips Tobias's outfit, and it's a pair of black dress boots with black pants, a red t-shirt, and a black blazer. Matt has the same thing, but blue, but he does have black boots.

"You guys like it?" Joey asks us, seeing our faces of disapproval.

"No." We all say in unison.

"I know. It's only for a couple hours, alright? Can you do that for me? Interview night, we'll have better clothes, nice dresses and suits."

"You better." Taylor crosses her arms, and leans against the wall.

"C'mon, let's get dressed." Tobias mutters and grabs his bag. I grab mine, and Joey directs me to a small green room with a couch and table, and a bathroom. I change out of my shirt and pants until I'm left there standing in my bra and underwear. I put on the dreaded blue pants first, buttoning them tight. I throw the shirt on haphazardly, buttoning it up, then having to unbutton it and button it again, because I messed up. I tie the tie, and put the collar back down. I roll the sleeves up to my elbows, and start putting on my shoes. I tie the right one first, then left. There's a knock on the door.

"Hey, can I do your hair?" Joey asks from the other side, his words muffled by the door.

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead." The door creaks open as I talk. Joey tosses me a pair of glasses to put on.

"Joey, I wore these all my life and I didn't even need them. Do I have to?"

"Yes, I'm sorry."

I put the glasses on, and they feel familiar on my face. Joey starts working on my hair, brushing it, and letting my hair hang loose. He straightens it, and puts some product in it. He does a bit of make-up as well.

"You look stunning. Go take a look." He motions to the mirror.

"Joey" I stammer looking at myself in the mirror. "It's great. Thank you." I smile.

"You look great." He pulls me into a hug. I hug back.

We both exit the room, and Tobias sits on the couch, half-asleep. I sneak up behind him and yell in his ear. He is startled, and falls off the couch. He stands up, and starts running at me, I run into the other room, outrunning him.

"Can't catch me Dauntless?' I yell behind me.

"Damn you!" He cries out.

I trip and I laugh, tears pouring out of my eyes. I wipe them away, still laughing. This is the first time I've ever laughed so hard I cried. Tobias laughs at my failure, and I smile, standing up, Joey yelling at us, telling us not to kill each other. Tobias helps me up, and goes to slap me in the face, not that hard, and I duck.

"You're pretty good. Why aren't you Dauntless?" He questions suspiciously.

"Oh, my aptitude was Dauntless, but I had to stay at home. Bunch of little brothers, y'know?" I admit.

"Faction before my blood, my friend."

"I don't believe in that crap. Family is family, you can't just abandon that." I snap, getting angry.

"But shouldn't you follow your calling, to be with the people that you belong with?"

"I belong with my family. You really are an idiot, aren't you?" I snap.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Tobias huffs.

"I can understand why." I say, walking into the room that we were in minutes ago.

"I wish I had a family like yours."

"What do you mean?"

"Siblings, a mother who was alive, a father who loved you."

"That was your dad that came in, right?" I ask.

"Yeah. He beat me all my life, blamed me for my mother's death. They say she died because of a miscarriage or something, but I bet you all the money in the world my father beat her to death."

"Really? Why did he hate you and your mom so much?"

"No clue. How could anyone hate perfect little me?" Tobias bats his eyes.

I laugh, shaking my head.

"Sounds like you don't care anymore." I say.

"Oh, I do. I want that man dead for his crimes. I want to kill him myself, and after we get out of the games, I'll be an experienced killer, so maybe that's what I'll do."

"Can we take a step out of hell for a minute?" My eyes are wide with shock from what Tobias just said.

"Sorry…" Tobias awkwardly mutters.

"I can understand your rage, man. Let it out in the games, not here." I chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'll make an attempt."

"Promise me you will?" I beg.

"I promise."

"Good."

Matt and Taylor exit their rooms in their dorky outfits, and I laugh at Matt just a bit.

"Shut up, Carter." He snaps.

"No." I kiss him for a second.

He smirks. Joey claps his hands together, and opens his mouth.

"Alright, let's head out! One more short train ride, then you're done with trains. You must be sick of them." Joey laughs, tipping his head back.

We board a train to take us to the parade. Who knows what this night could bring?


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey guys! **

**I'm back!**

**I'm really sorry that I didn't update sooner, I was in Washington D.C. on vacation, and I didn't have my laptop and I got back yesterday. **

**So yeah, I've been busy.**

**I'll let you read now. **

**Don't forget to follow, favorite and review! I hope you all have/had a great day, and I'll see you soon!**

**Disclaimer- I don't own The Hunger Games or Divergent**

We boarded a small train and rode it for about twenty minutes into the very heart of the Capitol. I look down at my outfit as Joey tells us we have five minutes before we get to the Capitol. It was the outfit that I saw every single goddamn Erudite woman, man and child wear on important days. Council meetings, choosing ceremonies all that jazz. I wore this attire one too many times. I look over to the other side of the car and see Tobias taking a shot of whiskey. He shakes his head and closes his eyes after he's gulped it down.

"You alright there?" Taylor asks kindly.

"Yeah. Stronger than I thought. That's a good thing, a very good thing if we're gonna be around these crazy Capitol people." Tobias burps, and excuses himself.

"You're just a crazy drunk." I sigh.

"The perks of being a Dauntless." Tobias tips his glass towards me.

"You should write a book." I retort.

"Maybe I will." He smirks.

"Alright you two, shut up." Matt snaps, kissing my forehead.

"Okay, we're here!" Joey exclaims, a huge grin on his face. I feel the train slow down, and it screeches to a stop. We all get up (with Tobias staggering to the door) and leave the train. We're leaded through crowds of people, hundreds of them, and into this big hall with twenty chariots in it. Tributes crowd the place. One kid catches my eye. He was wearing black and white; he was a Candor. He was talking to his age group partner, a girl with red hair, also in black in white. He was tall and slender with chocolate brown hair and bright blue eyes. He had a beautiful smile, and he was fit, very fit. He had muscles that you could see through his shirt. He looked like a jock, and maybe kind of a jerk. I doubt it though. He suddenly looked in our direction, staring into my soul with those beautiful blue eyes. I suddenly remember his name. He is seventeen. He's in the age group below me. His name is Ryan Grace.

Ryan smiled for a second, and I smiled back, returning the act of kindness. I don't know him, but it would be a shame to see him dead. I don't want to be the one to kill him. He seemed like a sweet boy who does no wrong, and was horribly drafted into this death match.

"He looks like competition." Matt mutters in my ear. "Do you know his name?"

"Ryan Grace, seventeen, Candor." I whisper, as Joey leads us to our chariots, Taylor and Tobias' in front of me and Matts.

"He looks like a big threat." Matt says, petting the beautiful black horse that was powering our chariot. It had a white diamond on its forehead, right between its eyes.

"He looks like a goody two- shoes who is too afraid to kill anyone, so he hides the entire time." I smile at Matt, and he wraps his arm around my shoulder, kissing my cheek.

"Attention tributes!" A man yells, echoing the hall. "We will begin in five minutes, so get in your chariots. This ceremony will take about a half an hour, you'll be presented to potential sponsors, and the nation so they can find out who they'll root for. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor."

Matt climbs into the high and almighty chariot first, then helping me up next. He takes my right hand in his left, and we hold onto the sides of the chariot. I see pretty much all the other tributes doing the same thing. I take notice of Ryan, who is just like Matt in the fact that he's helping his faction partner up. Like I had previously thought, I knew he was very considerate.

"Ready?" Matt asks as he spots the front chariot start to move.

"No, but will it help you feel better if I say yes?" I ask.

"Yes." Matt huffs.

"Then yes, I am ready. I'm very ready." I comfort him.

"Good. Because I'm not."

I laugh under my breath, scratching the back of my head. Taylor and Tobias turn around and grin at us, giving us thumbs up. Tobias waves, and I give him a slight smile. They turn back around as their chariot starts to move forwards, and then ours. We enter into a bright path. Brightly colored clothed people pack the stands, there has to be at least three hundred thousand people there, screaming and cheering for us, for us nobody faction children who've been drafted into a murder competition.

Matt waves at the people in the stand, grinning and loving every minute of it. He's always been a crowd pleaser, a kiss up for as long as I could remember, and now he's in his prime. I laugh at him, and I wave too, playing along with the game. People chant our names, all four of our names. Matt laughs as all the chariots pull into a circle. A balcony stands above us, and Jeanine peers over, looking at the citizens of her city.

"Tributes." She begins her speech, silencing the roaring crowd. "We welcome you, and honor you. We honor your intelligence, your kindness, your selflessness, your honesty and your bravery." She references the factions. "We all wish you the best of luck, and may the odds be in your favor." That seems like the motto of this all. I have a slight feeling deep inside that the odds aren't exactly in my favor. For God's sake, I'm going up against 36 other teenagers trying to kill me. The odds are statistically not in my favor, and I don't give a damn.

The crowd cheers once more for their precious leader. Our chariots roll out into the hall again, and we hop off, meeting up with Taylor and Tobias.

"Did you see any potential enemies?" I ask them.

"The 17 year old Candors, Ryan and Lisa, right?" Taylor tells me.

"Yeah, we were thinking them too. They look very nice, I don't want to be the one to kill them." I truthfully reveal.

"Me either, they seem like good kiddos." Tobias chuckles.

Jensen comes around to pick us up.

"Hey guys, ready to go up to the penthouse? We get top floor." Jensen grins.

"Ooh, top floor?" Matt squeals like a little kid.

"Uh-huh. Jared's up there waiting."

"C'mon then, what are you waiting for?" Tobias exclaims.

Taylor and I roll our eyes.

"So damn immature." She sighs.

"I've had to live with that for longer then you could imagine." I tell my friend.

"I am so sorry." She jokingly sympathizes.

"Me too."

We step into the elevator, and Jensen hits the number ten button on the side of the door, and the elevator lurches up to the tenth and top floor of the building. I sigh as we go up, dreading every minute of it. I don't want to go up into the penthouse, I don't want to be in the Capitol, I don't want to be in a fight to the death against other kids. CHILDREN are going to kill each other in two weeks, and I want no part of it.

I might be better off killing myself now, then going into those Games. I hate every minute of this, and it's all going to drive me insane.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's another update, I hope you like it! Don't forget to follow favorite and review. I hope you all had/have a good day, and I'll see you soon.**

**Disclaimer- I don't own THG or Divergent.**

The elegant elevator doors slide open when we reach the top floor. The door leads into an elegant apartment, with a fantastic kitchen, a fancy dining area and a comfortable lounge room. Two servants put food down on the dinner table, and Jared sits at the head of it.

"Hey, it looked like it went well, did it?"

"Yeah, it went alright." Tobias shrugs.

"Come, sit down, and eat dinner."

"Don't mind if I do." Matt mutters, and sits down on the right of Jared. I sit down in the chair to the left of Matt, Jensen next to me on the other end of the table, Taylor next to him, and Tobias next to Taylor and Jared. Sitting on the middle of the table is a cooked turkey, the skin brown and crisp. Bowls line the table filled with different foods, mashed potatoes, gravy, applesauce and so many other things. We all dig in, and eat a pleasant meal filled with enduring conversations. When we were all stuffed and finally done, a servant brought out chocolate cake straight from Dauntless, and creamy vanilla ice cream. We ate all that too. When we were really done, and there wasn't any food left, we all decided that it would be smart to go to bed. So with that, Matt and I tromped into my room, and Taylor and Tobias' into theirs. We changed into our pajamas and brushed our teeth. I stood over the sink and splashed cold water onto my face. I grip the counter so hard, I'm white knuckling it. I look up into the mirror and take a good look at my face. I see an innocent person with a weight on my shoulder. A heavy weight. After the Games, if I live, I'll see a warrior. Nothing else. Matt knocks softly on the door.

"You okay?" He says gently.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just fine." I reply, opening the door. He hugs me, burying his head in my shoulder. I grip onto the back of his shirt, realizing that this could be one of the last times I hug him.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He mutters, looking into my eyes.

"No. I'm not."

"I'm going to make it better. I promise you. Your changing, Carter, I can tell."

"I know I have."

"We can all tell, Carter. Is it the stress?"

"It's the fact that I know I can't do it, Matt."

"Can't do what?"

"Win. I am incapable of winning The Hunger Games, and that's a fact."

"You can win, I know you can."

"How would you know? I've never murdered anyone before." I raise my voice.

"Yeah well neither have I!"

"Can we just go to bed?"

"Yeah. Yeah." Matt rubs his eyes, and climbs in the bed. I turn off the light and crawl into bed next to him. I snuggle into him, and he wraps his arms around me. I bring the covers up to my chin, it was very cold in the room.

"Cold?"

"Yeah." I shiver. My feet were cold too. I press them up against his bare skin on his ribcage. Matt screams a little, and grabs my feet.

"Don't do that!"

"Oh I will." I laugh.

"My favorite game is revenge!" He exclaims, sliding his hands under my shirt and places them on my hips. I yelp, and hold onto him tight. He kisses me quickly.

"There's the Carter I know." He smiles in the dark.

"Goodnight Matt."

"Goodnight Carter."

I fell asleep shortly after that, only to have a terrible nightmare. I was in the woods, with a sword in my right hand, and a backpack on my back. I was dressed in a black t-shirt and black pants and brown boots. I knew where I was. I knew within a split second. I was in the Arena. I was in The Hunger Games. I see a figure charging at me, the thing was tall, it looked like a human. It gets closer, and I recognize it as Tobias.

"Tobias!" I yell. He tackles me to the ground, and tries to put a knife in my throat. I push his hand away as hard as I can but it's hard. He's Dauntless.

"Tobias stop!" I scream. "Please!"

"I'm going to kill you, even if it's the last thing I do." He mutters.

"Stop! I can't kill you!"

The knife inches closer and closer by the second. Soon, the ice cold blade is touching my throat. I do what I have to, and plunge the knife into Tobias' stomach. He limply rolls off me, obviously dead.

Taylor comes running up, screaming at me.

"What did you do? What did you do?"

"He was trying to kill me, he was gonna kill me!"

"So you kill him?"

"I had to! I had to!"

"I'm going to give you three seconds to get a head start before Matt and I kill you. 1."

I scramble to my feet, and sprint off through the woods.

I duck under branches, I dodge rocks, and I jump over a ledge and into a cave. I press my back against the rock wall, and suck in a shaky breath.

"When we find her, you grab her, and then I'll kill her." I hear Taylor grumble to Matt. No, not my sweet little Matt. Not him. Not him.

I hear footsteps crunch leaves outside the cave, and I see a shadow of a person. It's Taylor, I can tell by her figure. I clamp my hand over my mouth, trying to silence my breath. I shut my eyes, praying she won't see me. She sticks her head in, and sees me.

"Can't run now, can you Winchester?" She grins.

Taylor yanks me by the arm out of the cave. She takes my sword out of my grip and throws it, and it clatters down in the leaves with a crunch. Matt shoves my arms behind my back, gripping them there.

"Any last words, Winchester?"

"Sonofabitch." I slur together, as Taylor punches me in the face, blood trickling down my chin. I grin, my mouth full of blood. I look back at Matt, and he whispers something in my ear, something that I've heard many times.

"I'm sorry."

Taylor drags her knife along my throat, and I wake up, panting.

"Hey, hey, what's the matter? What's the matter?" Matt asks, sitting up and rubbing my back.

"Bad dream… no problem. Go back to bed, dear." I whisper, kissing his forehead.

"What did you dream about?"

"I told you, nothing important. Please just go to bed."

"Okay. Whatever you say. I love you."

"I love you too."

After an hour, I finally fell asleep to the silence in the dark.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thanks for 220 reads guys! I know that may not sound like a lot to you, but to me it is. For it only being my first fanfiction, I think that's pretty amazing. Soon I probably won't be able to post as regularly because of school and all that crap, but bear with me on that. I hope you all had/have a great day! Don't forget to follow favorite and review this story so you can get an update about when I post. I'll let you read now.**

The next morning, Jared loudly entered our room, yelling that it was day one of training.

"Rise and shine, sleepyheads, its training day!" Jared excitedly yelled.

Matt sat up with a moan, and I threw a pillow over my head.

"Come on Carter, you have to wake up too, y'know." Jared shakes me until I sit up. I'm about ready to punch him in the face until he drops on the floor unconscious. I take a glance at the digital clock on the nightstand. In fluorescent red lights it reads 6:30 in the morning.

"Jared it's too early." I complain, rubbing my eyes. It's still dark out.

"It's never too early for training." Jared throws some clothes in my general direction. I catch them.

"Do we seriously have matching training outfits too?" I rub my eyes knowing that it was going to be a long day.

"I'll let you two change." Jared finally leaves our bedroom.

"I bet the cheeriness is killing you, huh." Matt grins.

"You know me too well." I groan and stand up. I examine the clothes that Jared gave me. It's a blue t-shirt, I think, that's had the sleeves cut off of them. I don't know what they're called, but I'll make sure to ask. We also got a pair of black shorts, black socks that went halfway up our calves, and running sneakers. These weren't the worst outfits I've ever seen. I kind of liked them.

"I'll change in the bathroom." Matt announces, and I just nod. Matt staggers into the bathroom and shuts the door behind him, locking it as well.

I changed my bra and underwear, and put the shirt over my head, and slid my arms into the holes where the sleeves were supposed to be. I put on the shorts, and they were made of a mesh like material. They were very soft, and easy to put on. I managed to get my socks the right way, and the sneakers fit perfectly. I looked at myself in the mirror. These outfits were really cool. I loved them. Matt came out of the bathroom dressed in the same thing that I was wearing. The shirt showed his muscles more than a regular t-shirt would, and I liked that. It made him look a lot stronger than most people thought he was, and it made him look like a bigger threat to the other tributes.

"Looking good." I smirk.

"Same to you, Winchester." Matt replies, smiling at me.

"I'll meet you in the kitchen, just let me wash up and stuff."

"Alright." Matt kisses my forehead, and I proceed into the bathroom. I heard the bedroom door shut, so I know Matt left. I brush my teeth well, and spit toothpaste into the sink. I wash it out. I take a white washcloth and run it under warm water. I put soap on it, and scrub my face clean. I rinse the soap off, and throw the washcloth in the hamper. I brush my hair until it's smooth, and pull it up in a hair tie. I do one final check to make sure I look okay, and then leave the room to meet my friends in the kitchen for breakfast. Matt and Tobias and Jared were already seated at the kitchen table eating scrambled eggs, toast and bacon with glasses full of orange juice. I sit down next to Matt.

"Ah, we have the first woman out. What is your secret for not taking so long?" Tobias teases.

"I don't do mornings. Piss me off and I can promise you that you won't like it." I grumble, scooping eggs onto my plate. I take two pieces of toast and butter one, and smother grape jelly over the other. I add two pieces of bacon, and fill my glass with orange juice.

"Geez, sorry." Tobias mutters, taking a sip of orange juice. I glance up at him and take a look at what he's wearing. He's got on the same thing as Matt and I, but his shirt is black. Everything he's wearing is black except for his white socks and sneakers. Taylor comes out of her room yawning, and sits down next to Tobias.

"Morning." Tobias greets her and kisses the top of her head softly. They're being cute while Matthew is stuffing his face like he'd never eaten before. I look at him, and his mouth is stuffed with scrambled eggs. He washes it down with a full glass of orange juice, and starts devouring his toast. I roll my eyes at him, and continue eating. Taylor scoops food onto her plate, taking extra bacon for herself. She must love it. Who doesn't?

"You obviously like bacon." Jared teases playfully.

"Oh hell yeah." She laughs, taking a bite of the crisp and crunchy delicacy.

I chuckle, looking down at my plate. I had almost finished my food, I had a bit of eggs left, and a bite or two of the toast coated in grape jelly. Fifteen minutes later, when we're getting ready to go to the training center in the basement of the complex, Jensen comes out fully dressed with a severe case of bedhead.

"Good morning princess Scott, glad to know you're alive, your highness." Jared makes fun of Jensen, using his last name.

"Shut the f-"

"Language!" Matt yells. He had been yelling this phrase at me for years, and I laugh at hearing Matt say it to someone other than me.

"Oh come on, now I've got no swearing around here?" Jensen grumbles angrily.

"I've had to live with that for a long time. Every time I was gonna say something, he piped in with that." I sigh.

"Goddamn, I feel bad for you." Jensen rubs his eyes haphazardly.

"We're going to go to training. You eat then catch up with us." Jared tells Jensen.

"No, I can go now, I don't want to make us look like lazy assholes."

"No, you have to eat. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day y'know."

"I can do just fine without, Samuels." Jensen addresses Jared by his last name. That's something I'd noticed about Jensen. When he was angry or disgruntled or tired, he addressed everyone by their last names. I thought it was slightly amusing.

"You sure?"

"Yes! You don't need to check on me every thirty seconds like I'm a little baby." Jensen scoffs. "Let's just leave."

"Okay. I'm sorry if I made you mad, bud." Jared apologizes with a kind smile.

"It's fine. Not your fault."

"This is like a sappy romance novel." Taylor admits.

"I agree." I add.

"We're totally in a bromance." Jared laughs while he and Jensen fist bump. Taylor and Tobias laugh while I look at them oddly.

"Ah, you Erudites don't know what that is, eh?" Jensen laughs.

"It's like when two best friends who are guys are really close." Jared explains.

I still don't get it.

"Whatever." I sigh. Soon after, we all packed into the small elevator and rode down to the basement training center to see what was in store for the four of us. We were a sight, my friends and I. We were an interesting mix. Usually Dauntless hated Erudites. Not these Dauntless. They were best friends with two of them. I liked that, breaking stereotypes. As we neared the basement, I started to get nervous. I was nervous about what the other tributes would think of us. I tried to tell myself that everything would be fine, that there was nothing to worry about.

Absolutely. nothing helped


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hi guys! Here's a quick chapter for you. I got my backpack for school today. I go back in a week. Yay! (Sarcasm) **

**Have you guys gone back to school yet? **

**I'll let you read now. Don't forget to follow/favorite so you get a notification for when I update. I hope you all have/had a good day and I'll see you soon!**

The elevator comes to a smooth stop at the basement, and the doors gently slide open to reveal a huge training center filled with stations, shiny gleaming weapons, obstacle courses, and plenty of important looking men on a balcony, watching the tributes. About 20 tributes stood in a circle with their mentors behind them. I see some mentors giving us dirty looks. It was a pair of them, two guys like Jensen and Jared. They looked about the same age as Jensen and Jared. One was taller than the other, about 6 feet tall. The other was about 5'9. Jensen seems to notice them, and nudges Jared in the side. Jared takes a quick glance over at them, and they corral us over to our spot.

"Who the hell is that?" I mutter to Jensen who was standing to the left of me.

"That's Calvin Redd and Ethan Watson. Kind of our enemies. Their kids are the 17 year old Dauntless and Erudite and they're going to train these kids to hate you four and if anyone's out to kill you, it's them." Jensen mutters as the final tributes step into their places.

"Welcome, tributes." A darker skinned woman who stands in the middle of the circle announces. "My name is Atlas. In three weeks, thirty six of you will be dead. Twenty percent will die of infection, twenty percent will die of natural causes and sixty percent will be killed by other tributes. You all may want to grab a shiny knife at first, but knowing how to start a fire is the difference between life and death. The judges will be watching you, and at the end of the week, right before the Games, your scores will be televised. An eleven means that the judges think you'll definitely win, while a one means not so much. Good luck tributes, and may the odds be ever in your favor." Atlas walks back into her special room with the judges and leaves us to ourselves.

"What now?" I ask Jensen and Jared.

"We're going to go; we'll be back real soon, within the half hour. We're going to protect you, get you some sponsors." Jared nods.

"Okay?" Matt cocks his head to the side. Jared and Jensen leave in a hurry.

"What do you want to do first?" I ask my allies.

"Let's do an obstacle course!" Taylor exclaims, pointing to an obstacle course that you have to climb across like monkey bars, while trainers beat you with thick plastic poles.

Looks fun.

"Alright, looks slightly dangerous, but that's what we live for, eh?" Matt shrugs.

I glance over at Tobias and he looks very, very nervous.

"Hey you okay buddy?" I ask.

"Uh, yeah." He trembles. "I'm fine. Just fine."

"You sure? You don't have to do it if you don't want to." I tell him with a smile.

"I have to do it, I don't want to look like a wuss." He mutters.

"Alright man." I chuckle and jog to catch up with Taylor and Matt.

"Your boyfriend is a wuss." I laugh at Taylor.

"Hey, he's got four fears and two of them happen to be in this at once." Taylor shrugs.

"Glad to know you're a loving girlfriend." I tease.

"I know. I'm fantastic." She grins.

I shake my head as we get in line for this course. Tobias follows behind thirty seconds later. Taylor was first in line, then me, then Matt, then Tobias at the end. He was terrified of this. It showed through him. There were three kids in line before Taylor, so we would be waiting a couple minutes before we got on the course. When it was finally the kid in front of Taylor's turn, we all watched him to see how he would do. He was actually doing pretty well until the halfway point. He was hit in the ribs hard, and fell fifteen feet onto the mats, his leg underneath him at an odd angle. He lets out a yelp of pain, then limps up and goes to his mentors.

"Well now we see the grueling punishment of failure." I grin at Taylor. I clap her on the shoulder. "Good luck. You're going to need it."

"Thanks." She sighs and takes in a deep breath. She exhales sharply and proceeds onto the first bar. She gets her first hit on her left hip. She grunts as she goes on two rings. She does well, then she gets hit one too many times, and her right arm slips. She is hanging onto the bar with one hand. She has three more left before she's done.

"Come on, Taylor, get back up there." I encourage her.

"I'M WORKING ON IT!" She yells at me in frustration. She then gets a blow to the small of her back, and almost falls. She manages to harness enough power to grasp the bar with both hands again, and finishes the course, jumping onto the platform at the end.

I look at the clock above the platform and see her time. The clock reads one minute fifty seven seconds. That's pretty good. I can beat it.

"Alright Winchester, your turn!" Taylor laughs.

"Good luck Carter." Matt smiles behind me.

"Thanks." I smile back.

I jump onto the first bar, immediately feeling a stick connect with my neck. I struggle to grasp for air as I climb onto the third bar. I hear a familiar voice yell out my name. It's Jensen, and I climb onto the fourth bar. I still can't breathe. The world spins around me, and I can't feel the pain of the sticks hitting me all over. I climb for a couple of seconds, reaching the twelfth bar. I have eight more. I manage to grasp the thirteenth, and ignore the sticks. I finish the course within ten seconds, and jump onto the platform. I look at my time. One minute seventeen seconds.

"Beat ya." I smirk at Taylor.

"How'd you do it?"

"No clue, but I got a whack to the throat." I say, my voice cracking. It would continue to do this all day.

Matt got through the course at one minute forty seven seconds, and poor Tobias at three minutes fifty three seconds.

I think it was safe to say that Taylor and I were the strongest of the group.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hi guys! So today I hit 325 reads and I think that's the coolest thing ever that 325 people decided to read my fanfiction. **

**It may not sound very interesting to you readers, but to me it is. When you hit 300 reads on your first fanfiction, how did you react? This if completely surreal. **

**So thanks to all of you who've read the chapters, followed, favorited and reviewed. Even if you've only read one chapter, you're awesome. **

**Don't forget to follow/favorite and review! I hope you all have/had a good day, and I'll see you soon!**

After we went through the obstacle course, Matt and Tobias decided to go to the knot tying station of all places, and Taylor and I were going to try out the weapon course. We examined the huge wall of weapons carefully, trying to pick the right one.

"So whatcha got your eyes on?" I ask, folding my arms, still trying to pick a weapon to wield.

"I think" Taylor grabs a four foot long spear off the wall. "I'm going to use this one. What about you?"

I take a Roman gladiator style sword off its peg and twirl it around in my hand. The weight and balance are perfect for me, and I finally decide that this is the one.

"I like this bad boy." I smirk.

"Good, good." Taylor laughs as we hike up to the weapon dummies. To our surprise, no one was up there.

The weapon dummy area was a big grey area, it had to be forty yards by forty yards with a big orange circle in the middle and a three foot smooth concrete wall surrounding the area. There were no dummies.

"Where's the things I'm looking forwards to stabbing?" I question.

"Here, look at this." Taylor points to a big red button on the side.

"Press the button to start." An automated voice speaks over a PA system. It startles both Taylor and I and we jump backwards. I laugh as we scramble back up to our feet.

"I'm not going first." I grin.

"You suck." Taylor scoffs.

"I know."

Taylor presses the big red button, and the voice comes back again.

"Please step into the orange circle located in the center of the cage. You have thirty seconds to do so."

Taylor does as she's directed to, and steps into the orange circle.

"Good luck." I smirk.

"Good luck." Taylor mocks my voice.

I sneer at her, as her training starts.

About ten dummies are lifted from the ground, and one starts moving rapidly at Taylor. She starts to panic a bit and I see a bit of fear in her eyes. She hesitates for a moment, then jabs the spear into the center of it, where a tribute's stomach would be. The dummy is sucked back down under the floor. Two come at her this time, and while she stabs on, she elbows the other in the head, then stabs it. Three down, seven to go.

"Come on Taylor." I mutter under my breath.

Another one charges at her, and this time, it has a very blunt sword in its hand.

"Alright Taylor, dodge him now." I encourage her.

The dummy jabs, and she takes a jump back, stabbing it in the neck.

Four down, six to go.

Another one comes, this one with a bow and plastic tipped arrows. It shoots one at Taylor, and she turns to dodge it, but it hits her in the arm, leaving a welt. She yelps in pain, and stabs it, then stabbing the next one coming at her.

Six down, four to go.

The next one has a plastic bladed knife, and it tries to stab Taylor, but she slices the arm off it, and stabs it in the head, pulling the spear our quick.

Seven down, three to go.

Two come at Taylor, one with a bow, and one with a knife. A knife and an arrow fly through the air aimed at Taylor, but she dodges it, stabbing both.

Nine down, one to go.

The last one has a spear, a matching one just liked Taylor's. The dummy flings it through the air, and Taylor knocks it out of the air impressively with the shaft of her weapon. She throws the spear and it finds a home in the dummy's chest. The last dummy is sucked underground, and the spear is left on the floor. Taylor picks up the spear, and comes back to me, breathing heavily.

"How'd you do it?" I ask. Taylor grips her arm where she was hit by the arrow.

"Let me see." I mutter, examine her arm. I gently run my finger over the wound, and Taylor flinches, obviously in pain.

"Go get some ice on that while I do this." I tell her.

"No, I'm fine, I want to watch you."

"No, go. It looks pretty bad." I say, concern lacing my voice.

"I told you, I'm fine." Taylor insists.

"Fine. Whatever." I white knuckle the hilt of my sword, and kick the big red button with my the tip of my shoe.

"Please step into the orange circle in the middle of the cage. You have thirty seconds to do so."

"I know." I grumble and walk over to the big orange circle and stand in the middle of it. The ten dummies appear out of the floor, and I take notice of them real quick. Some have swords, some spears, some knives, some bows and some with no weapon at all.

The first dummy charges at me, and I suddenly feel fear in my stomach. I shake my head and grip the sword with two hands, and swing it, beheading it. It's sucked down into the floor, and the next one comes. This one was the one with the knife. It made a move, swooshing the knife at me, but I cut off the arm, and bring the sword above my head, plunging it into the dummy's chest.

Two down, eight to go. Come on Winchester, you can do this.

"Come on Carter." I hear Taylor say. I'm too distracted with killing the one with the spear that I don't notice the dummy with the bow and arrows behind me.

"Carter!" Taylor exclaims, and I feel a searing pain in my back which causes me to stumble to the ground. I turn around to see an arrow on the ground, and a dummy ready to fire another.

"Sonofabitch." I mutter, and leap at the dummy, stabbing it, and watching it fall into the floor.

I was rallied up now, I was pissed. Every dummy that came up now, I stabbed it, or took its head off or killed it in some way. When I was finally done, sweat poured off my forehead. I stepped out of the cage, rubbing the spot on my back where the plastic arrow was hit at me.

"Holy crap. That was good, Carter. Really good. Absolutely fantastic."

"Shut up." I mutter.

"You can't take compliments? Are you okay?"

"Fine. Just fine, Taylor."

Suddenly, I feel a hand on my back, and I'm pinned up against the wall by a taller man, Taylor next to me in the same situation. The man who had me was about six feet tall, and I recognize him right away. It's Calvin Redd, one of Jensen's enemies, I remember him telling me that. My back hurts from the arrow wound, and it's worse being shoved up against the wall. I grunt a little, and wince, forcing myself to stay quiet.

"Carter, is it?" Calvin asks.

"Go to hell." I sneer.

"That's no way to talk to me, kid." Calvin angrily remarks.

"And Taylor too." The other one, Ethan, smirks.

"You're Jensen and Jared's kiddos, right?" Calvin grins almost evilly.

Taylor musters a faint yes.

"I'm Calvin and that's Ethan." My captor smirks. "We're going to make your life hell."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hey guys, here's another chapter. **

**I know this is all kind of crappy but I think it will get better when I write the actual Games part. **

**So I'll let you guys read now. Don't forget to follow/favorite to get an notification when I update, and review to let me know what you think of it! I hope you all have/had a good day, and I'll see you all soon. **

"Asshole." Taylor mutters.

"Get off, you empty headed morons." I grit through my teeth, as Calvin bounds my hands behind my back.

"What did you say?" He mutters in my face.

"I told you to get off of me, you empty headed moron." I smirk.

"How dare you." He roars, clamping his hands around my throat. I try to pry his hands off my throat. I can't do it, and my vision starts going blurry.

"Stop." I croak. "Please."

Calvin is thrown off me, and I hear Jensen yell.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?" He screams. "IF YOU EVER COME NEAR US AGAIN, YOU'RE A DEAD MAN, YOU HEAR?"

"Good luck with that one." Calvin laughs. "Come on Ethan. Let's go."

Ethan shoves Taylor in Jensen's direction and follows Calvin back down to their tributes.

Jensen pulls me and Taylor into a big bear hug.

"You okay?" He asks me, holding me close to him.

"I'm fine." I lie.

"You sure?"

"Yes, Jensen, I'm fine." I lie once more.

"Good. Taylor you alright?"

"Mmhm. All good."

"Great." Jensen mutters, still hugging us.

"Okay, can you let go now?" I ask.

"Yeah, oh, sorry." Jensen apologizes.

Matt and Tobias come running up, panting at the top.

"What happened? " Tobias gasps.

"Some moose head morons decided to choke me, y'know, all good." I snap sarcastically.

"Oh god, are you alright?" Matt asks, bringing me into a hug.

"What's with all the hugs?" I inquire.

"Just tell me, are you alright?"

"Yes, Matthew, I am alright." I lie once more. It hurts me to be lying to him, but it's for his own good.

"Great." Matt grins, releasing me out of his grip.

"So you two are okay?" Tobias asks.

"Yeah, we're fine. Are you going to ask fifty thousand times?" Taylor chuckles, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes. I'm a concerned man, what can I say?" Tobias shrugs.

"Sorry to tell you, pal." I say, picking up my sword from the ground. "But you're not much of a man after that obstacle course." I head down to the stations to try and clear my mind.

I decide to go to the knot tying station, thinking that could bring me a sense of mind.

The man at the station looks overjoyed to see me, I don't think that he got many visitors here. I give the man a kind smile, and I pick up a piece of rope, and slide down against the wall in the corner of the room, and start tying various knots. After a while, Tobias comes down to see me.

"Hey Carter." He smiles.

I keep my head down and say nothing.

"Whatcha doing there?"

Still, I reply with nothing.

"Alright, alright, I'll leave you alone." Tobias leaves, and I see him go back to our crowd of Taylor, Matt and Jensen.

Someone else sits down next to me, and I realize that it's Jared.

"Hey kiddo. Heard about what happened. You okay?"

"I wish everyone would stop asking me that."

"Everything's changed you, Carter. You used to be a happy kid. Now I think you might be depressed."

I chuckle. "I'm not depressed."

"Really? You sure, Carter?"

"One hundred percent sure." I scoff, untying my rope, beginning to make a noose.

"Whatcha making?"

"A device in which you hang it from the ceiling, stand on a chair, and then you put it around your neck and tighten it up real snug, then jump off the chair and head out into oblivion." I mutter.

"Well aren't you cheery."

"I am, I'm very cheery." I fake smile.

"I can tell."

"Good. That's just what I wanted."

Jared lets out a light laugh. "I like you kid. To be honest, you're my favorite. I just want what's best for you, bud." Jared claps me on the shoulder. "I know this is hard for you, Carter. I know that. I know it's taking a toll on you, on your mind, and your emotions and-"

"Jared, stop." I interrupt. "Stop feeling sorry for me. Stop pitying on me, stop everything, just treat me like you're treating Taylor or Tobias or even my Matt." I sigh. I hold up the noose. "Before I actually hang myself."

"You wouldn't do that." Jared says seriously.

"I know, I just wanted to scare you."

Jared smiles at the ground, and I punch him in the arm.

"Go with them, don't stick by me, you idiot."

"Why should I?" Jared asks, running a hand through his hair.

"Because it's better than sitting here with me, watching me tie knots and watching callouses form on my hands as I do so." I hiss, untying my noose.

"Okay, okay. I'm going to go now. I'll see you later, bud." Jared says with some hope for me in his eyes, and stands up, going to rejoin our group. I get up too, and decide to go back to the weapon dummies. Halfway up, I hear a voice.

"Carter!" Taylor yells. I spin around, my expression blank. "We're going to lunch, you wanna come?"

I shake my head, signaling them no.

"You sure?" Taylor asks again. This time, I nod my head.

"Please Carter?" Matt whines like a little kid.

"Fine." I mutter, immediately regretting my decision. I put down my weapon and trek back down to my friends.

"Hey." I mutter.

"Glad you've joined us." Jensen smiles.

"Don't sugar coat it."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll try not to."

"Thanks, pal." I smile just a bit. It was a long, lonely couple of hours.

"So, where do we go to eat?" Tobias asks.

"We go back up to our floor and we eat there." Jared explains.

"Good, good." Taylor mutters. We got into the tiny elevator once more, and head back up to our floor for a fantastic lunch, just like the quality of breakfast this morning and dinner the night before. I didn't like much about the Capitol, but the food was absolutely fantastic, better than I've ever had before. After lunch, I trained and trained very hard. It was a long day. At dinner, I didn't eat, I just went to my room and took a shower. I changed into my pajamas and I laid down on the bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything. Just everything. How somehow I managed to get myself into this hellhole, and how I wish I could end everything now. If only I could.

I think I'd be a lot happier if I did.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Hey guys! Okay so this will start to get good within a chapter or two (because this pre-Games stuff is pretty crappy in my opinion).**

**Thanks for almost 400 reads! Don't forget to follow/favorite so you get a notification when I update and don't forget to review either. **

**I hope you all have/had a good day and I'll see you soon!**

After a week of intense training alone, with either just Jared and Jensen, it was finally the night before the Games, and we had interviews for TV with a popular man named Caesar Flickerman. He was insane, in my opinion. I was sitting in my room, looking at the walls that I used the remote to make it look like the woods. I sat on the edge of my bed with my hands pressed together under my chin. I was hunched over, but I was at peace. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." I say gruffly.

Taylor comes in my room with a kind smile on her face.

"Hey." She grins. She shuts the door behind her, and sits next to me.

"Hi."

"How you holding up?"

"Just fine. I think that maybe, just maybe, I'm getting better." The corners of my mouth turn up, and I realized that I was grinning from ear to ear.

"Great news. On the other hand, they're making everyone in the nation watch the Games. If they don't watch, they'll kill them. Also, we're leaving to meet Joey in twenty minutes."

"Thanks for that excellent advice. Absolutely fantastic."

"You say that a lot."

"What?"

"You say absolutely fantastic a lot."

"Yeah, I guess I do." I shrug.

There's another soft knock on my door.

"Yeah?" I ask. Jensen cracks the door open bit.

"Hey, we're heading out." He informs us. "So come along so we're not late."

"Okay." I smile.

"Ah, there's that smile." Jensen chuckles.

"Shut up you hollow shelled moron. " I sneer.

"Alright, alright." He bursts out in laughter.

So with that, we all got on another train (I was really getting sick of trains) and rode closer into the heart of the Capitol where we would all prep up and get our interviews done. It was only a five minute train ride, but it kind of seemed like forever. When we met up with Joey, he was looking really smooth, he was wearing a pastel green button up with black trousers and black loafers.

"Here's my favorite tributes once again!" Joey claps his hands together with glee. "Let's get you all cleaned up."

We all went through the same process that we went through when we first arrived here, and Joey brought us all into our separate dressing rooms to show us our clothes.

"Come on then Carter, come with me." Joey lead me by the hand into my dressing room.

"You're going to look fantastic in this, dear. Just gorgeous." Joey seemed excited about this, so maybe I should too.

John unzips a black bag to reveal a navy blue dress. It was strapless and cinched at the waist, and went down to a little above my kneecaps. It had a pattern on the bottom of it, like at the seam of it by my knees, and it was a pattern of falling stars. I instantly fell in love with it.

"Joey, it's absolutely fantastic. Damn it, I said it again." I giggle.

"I'm so glad you love it." Joey smiles.

"Me too, Joe. Me too."

"You get changed, then I will do your hair." He smirks. And so I did, I took a few minutes to get dressed, and Joey came into my dressing room and curled the ends of my hair and did my make-up. He cared to everyone else, and then brought us all out to the central area. Matt was wearing a tux with the blazer, bow tie, and trousers that was the same color of my dress. He was wearing a white button up underneath, and his hair was spiked and he was wearing glasses.

"You look simply adorable." I place my hands on his hips, and kiss him slowly. He kisses back, and I can feel the smile on his lips.

"You look beautiful." He whispers in my ear. I take his hand in mine, and he intertwines our fingers together, his huge hand resting in mine.

Taylor on the other hand was wearing an elegant black gown with silver sparkles all laced through it, and Tobias was wearing a plain suit, black necktie, blazer and trousers. He wore a red button up underneath the blazer, and you could see his tattoos slide up on his neck. He must have a huge tattoo on his back.

"Alright, are we ready to go?" Joey smiles.

"I think so." Taylor replies for the four of us. We get on a bus (much better than a train in my opinion) and rode to the TV center. The center was huge, and had a huge stage and a huge audience.

All of the tributes were lined up by age and faction. The order was Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, Erudite. The girls went in front of the boys, so it was Taylor then Tobias then me then Matt was last. At eight, the interviews started, and it would be an hour and a half before any of us got on. Jensen and Jared talked to us for the long hour and a half. Taylor and Tobias went on, and then it was my turn. Tonight, Caesar was dressed in all baby blue, and even his hair was that color. It was pretty freakin' creepy.

"Alright, our last lady for tonight is a favorite of all of us. Tonight, as we've done, we'll be revealing her training score." Caesar announces. That's right, I forgot about the scores. Taylor had gotten a nine, and Tobias an eight. "You know her, you love her, Carter Winchester!"

"Good luck." Matt mutters in my ear as I walk onstage. Thousands of Capitol citizens are cheering and screaming my name. It's overwhelming. Really overwhelming. I smile and wave at the crowd and that makes them go even more crazy. I sit down in the white chair next to Caesar.

"Carter, welcome. We're so happy to have you." Caesar grins.

The crowd finally shuts up.

"I'm happy to be here Caesar."

"So, you ready to hear your training score?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." I smirk.

"You got a fantastic score of eleven. Highest of all the tributes."

The crowd goes crazy again.

"Wow. That's insane."

"I think we've all been seeing an alliance forming between you and your faction partner Matt, and Taylor Harrison and Tobias Eaton. Is it true?"

"Yes, yes, it's all true. " I smile.

"And we all know Taylor and Tobias are a couple, but what's the chemistry between you and Matt?"

"Well, Matt and I have been friends for as long as I can remember." I smile. "And now, we're dating."

The crowd awes.

"That's wonderful." Caesar starts getting excited.

"Thanks."

"So, at the reaping, your family was there, I presume. Who was there?"

"Well, my parents John and Mary, and all three of my brothers, Gabriel, Dean and Sam." I smile.

"And what did you tell them, when you said goodbye?"

"Not much. It was kind of emotional for them, but I did promise Dean that I'd win. That I'd win for him."

"That's very touching, Carter."

Caesar asks me some more questions about being the strongest tribute, and then I was done. Jensen wraps me up in his arms, hugging me for my score of eleven.

Matt went on, and he got a nine, just like Taylor. That was good, very good. He answered some questions about home and our relationship, and it was finally done. We all went back to the floor, and went to bed, Jensen and Jared telling us to rest up, it was a big day tomorrow.

We were all afraid of the Hunger Games that night.

But the thing is, I don't think any of us slept because of it.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hi guys, sorry it's been awhile. I've been really busy with school and soccer. Thanks for over 460 reads! Remember to follow/favorite so you get a notification when I update, and don't forget to review as well. I hope you all had/have a great day all I'll see you all real soon.**

To my surprise, Matt slept soundly the night before the Games. On the other hand, I did not. I decided to get up and walk the floor. Yes, that sounded like a good idea, maybe I would be able to sleep. So with that, I quietly got out of bed and crept out to the main area of the floor where the kitchen and dining room were. It was pretty dark, but I could still see. I saw a figure in the dark. I recognized it as Jensen.

"Want a drink, kiddo?" Jensen raises his glass in the air, motioning to me.

"Uh, yeah, thanks." I say quietly. Jensen turns on a dim light.

"I'll give you a scotch, this stuff is great."

"Good." I sigh.

Jensen pours me the drink, and places the crystal glass in my hand.

"Thank you."

"No problem. You scared?"

I nod my head.

"I am too. I can't lose any of you."

"Do you have a family at home, Jensen?" I ask him, going off topic.

"I have a wife. Her name is Sarah, she's absolutely beautiful. We've got a little girl too. We call her JJ. How about you?"

"You know, the usual. Mom and Dad and three younger brothers." I sigh, remembering my family.

"Holy crap, three brothers?"

"Yep." I take a sip of the scotch in my hand. "Damn, you were right. This is good."

"How old are they?"

"Gabe is seventeen, Dean is 13, and Sammy is 11."

"Dean… I like that name. Bright kid, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah." I huff with a smile. "He's just like I was when I was his age."

"When you're in that arena, I'm going to make sure you live, Carter, you hear me?"

"You can't do anything about it."

"Yes I can, and I will get you and Matt and Taylor and Tobias home, no matter what it takes."

"What if some kid stabs me in the neck, what are you gonna do then?"

"I'm going to make sure that Taylor and Tobias and Matthew avenge you and kill that kid and everyone else."

I laugh at the thought of that.

"You're funny, y'know that right?" I chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

"I get that sometimes. Jared doesn't think I'm funny."

"Jared has no sense of humor."

"I know he doesn't, kid. Believe me."

"Jensen?" I ask.

"Hm?" Jensen takes a sip of his scotch.

"Make sure Matt lives. Promise me that right now. I don't care what happens to me, just make sure he lives. Please Jensen, for me." I say sincerely, a single tear dripping out of my left eye.

"I promise, Carter. Whatever makes you happy. I'll keep him alive."

"Take care of Tobias and Taylor too." I add.

"I promise I will. What about you, Carter? What are you gonna do?"

"I'm going to kill anyone who comes near me, that's what I'm going to do."

"That was a demented thought."

"Get used to it, mate." I smirk.

"Here's to us. Here's to all of us, hoping that God is looking over our shoulders and helping us live through the next couple weeks."

We clink our glasses together, and drain them.

"You think we'll live right?"

"I do."

"Good."

"Go to bed, Carter. Big day in a couple of hours."

"But I can't sleep."

"Alright, kiddo. You can stay up."

I smile as we go sit down on the couch.

We talked for hours before falling asleep. We slept for an hour before Jared woke us up.

"Eat up. You may not get food for a while." Jared says sincerely. "Carter, I believe this is yours." Jared hands me my book and I grin at the sight of it.

"Thanks, Jared." I hug him tight.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. You're okay." Jared kisses the top of my head.

"I know." I smile.

Matt comes out next, and I run into his arms as he wraps me up, grinning the entire time.

"You ready?"

"I think so."

"That's my girl."

We started to eat then Taylor and Tobias joined us.

""Morning." I say.

"Hey." Taylor says gloomily.

"You're in a good mood." Tobias giggles as I finish eating.

"Sure as hell I am." I grin. "Be right back, I'm going to get dressed." I run down to my room, to find my clothes. We were given a pair of pants and a blue t-shirt with hiking boots. I put the clothes on, and pulled back my hair and brushed my teeth and washed my face.

I realized that I would never be in this room again. I shrugged and went back out to my allies, who were all dressed as well.

"Ready to go?" Jensen asks.

I nod. We all file into the elevator.

"There's going to be a big cornucopia in the middle of the arena with weapons and goodies in them. Stay away from that, it's going to be a bloodbath. You go off into the woods and get out of there, find shelter and water. Find a cave or something to hide in and stay safe."

The elevators open to reveal that we were on the roof, and a big aircraft was waiting for us.

"Good luck, you four." Jared says, pulling us into hugs.

Jensen hugs me, crying.

"Don't forget our promise." I whisper into his ear. He nods and I smile, patting him on the back. The four of us board the aircraft and sit down together. Kids lined the sides of it. Soon, we took off, and a woman came around injecting something into everyone's arms. It looked painful. It was a big needle.

When she came to me, she injected me, and I didn't even flinch.

"What is it?" I gruffly ask, trying to intimidate the Candor girl to the right of me.

"Your tracker." She snaps. We arrived to the arena and we were guided into rooms where a single jacket was laid out for each of us.

Matt, Taylor, Tobias and I shrugged them on.

In the room, there were also four tubes that probably led into the arena.

"Don't step off the pedestal early, there's mines underneath." Taylor tells us.

"Thirty seconds." An automated voice tells us. Taylor pull us into a group hug.

"I love you guys no matter what happens." Tobias mutters.

"Same." I add.

"Twenty seconds." The voice says, remind us to get into the tubes.

"I guess that means us." Matt chuckles nervously.

"I love you." I tell him, and kiss him. I feel his lips curl into a smile. We pull away and the four of us step into the tubes. The door shuts. I realize what we're doing, and I start pounding on the glass in a state of panic.

"No, no NO!" I yell.

"Carter!" Matt yells. "It's okay! You're gonna be okay!"

**A/N: Hi guys! Sorry it's been a couple days, I've been really busy with school. Thanks for over 450 reads! Now the action is really getting started. Don't forget to follow/favorite so you get a notification when I update and don't forget to review as well! I hope you all have/had a great day and I'll see you soon.**

The tubes go up, and we're brought into fresh air, the outdoors, even though I knew we weren't.

The entire thing was woods except for this clearing where the cornucopia laid, gleaming in the sun. I peer inside it and see my sword calling my name from the inside. A voice starts counting down from sixty seconds. My family was watching. The world was watching. I know Jensen and Jared told me not to go into the cornucopia, for it was a bloodbath, but I NEEDED that sword. I needed it now. I was fast enough, I was probably the fastest here. I could do it, I could make it. I glance over at Matt, and he sees the sword too, and he shakes his head at me, telling me not to do it.

"Five, four, three, two, one." A big gong goes off and I jump off the pedestal, sprinting to the cornucopia to get my hands on that weapon.

"CARTER, NO!" Taylor screams. I sprint into the cornucopia and sling two backpacks over my back and grab my sword. An Amity kid comes in and takes a knife. As I run out, I stab him, and a cannon goes off as he falls to the ground, dead. I sprint past my opponents, and I hear a cry of "The Erudite!" A knife whizzes past my head, and it clatters to the ground. I pick it up, and throw it at a Candor girl, and it buries itself in the girls chest. I realize that I need Taylor and Tobias and Matt's weapons too. I take a deep breath and sprint back into the cornucopia.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Hi guys, here's another chapter. **

**School is hard. I don't like school. **

**That's all I have to say for today. **

**Remember to follow/favorite so you get a notification when I update. Also don't forget to review so I know how to make my fic better. **

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"Carter what the - are you doing?" Taylor screams as I run back into the fight. She had yelled a very vulgar word at me.

I look around me and see kids fighting everywhere. Some were smart enough to run back into the woods, while others were fighting. I have my sword at the ready, prepared for anything. My eyes meet an Abnegation girl, and she charges at me with her spear in her hand. I don't realize what's going on until she's about a yard away. I slice her arm with my sword, and she drops her spear. I make another slash, this time, her head falls to the ground. I grab the spear, and run into the unoccupied cornucopia. I slip in without anyone noticing me, thank god. I grab various weapons and stuff them in the bags. I grab another bag, and see a small one laying on the floor. I peer into it, and it's grenades. I take it, and run off and meet back with my allies. They kind of stare at me as I meet up with them.

"What are you doing then? Run! I yell at them as I burst into the woods, jumping over logs and dodging stray limbs. Every few seconds, I look back to make sure my allies are still running.

"Stop, just for a second." I halt to a short stop. I hear rustling leaves in the vicinity.

"What is it?" Taylor asks.

"Shut up. Don't move." I instruct.

"Wait, why?" Tobias questions.

"I said shut up!" I hiss. Suddenly, Matt screams as he's being tackled to the ground, a knife slicing his cheek, an Amity boy on top of him, knife raised above his head. I shove him off Matt, and manage to get behind him, and get him in a headlock.

"Take the knife." I grunt, and Taylor does so. "You have the honors of killing this idiot."

Taylor stabs the boy, and I release him out of my grip, he slumps to the ground, lifeless.

Another cannon goes off, it's music to my ears. Taylor and I help Matt to his feet as Tobias takes all the stuff the boy had, which included a bow and a dozen arrows and some dried fruit. Not bad, kid, not bad.

On the other hand, Matt's cheek was bleeding badly, and it was a pretty deep cut.

"I'm fine, I'm good." He mutters.

"No you're not, you asshat." I reply, kissing his forehead.

"Asshat?" Tobias snickers.

"Asshat."

"I like that one, I'm using it." Tobias laughs.

We walked for a while until we finally found a huge underground cave concealed by boulders.

We put all of our stuff in there, and did a haul.

Each of us took a bag, and started unpacking, Taylor going first.

"Water bottle, pretzles, antiseptic, a knife, rope, and a sleeping bag." Taylor puts it all back in the bag except for the sleeping bag.

Matt went next, the blood from his cut drying.

"A knife, rope, a slingshot, some healing ointment that's good, and a pair of wool socks. I think it's gonna be cold." Matt announces.

It was now my turn.

"I found this, it's a bag with ten hand grenades in it." I smile. "A water purifying kit, three packs of dried fruit, a protein bar, a water bottle." I say.

Tobias unpacks his bag, which contains a water bottle, a knife, and a package of beef jerky strips.

"Nice." He smiles, turning things over in his hands.

"Can you help me with this?" Matt asks me, tossing me the tube of healing ointment.

"Yeah, yeah. Of course." I reply, putting some of the ointment on some of my thumb. I rub it against Matt's cheek, smearing the ointment and blood. I smile as he thanks me

"Next, let's see all the weapons I got. I have my sword, I got a spear, some various throwing knives." I drop them and they clatter to the ground. I take out the bow and arrows, a scythe, and a dagger. Taylor takes the bow and arrows, Matt takes the spear and Tobias takes the scythe.

"Okay, next point, has anyone seen water?" I ask.

"No, unfortunately." Taylor sighs.

"Damn it." I mutter. "Why don't we split into groups to go looking for some. Taylor and I will go one way, you two go the other, be back here at dusk." I instruct.

"Alright, alright. Stay safe." Tobias says, hugging Taylor.

"You too, Winchester." Matt kisses me quickly.

"Yeah, I'll try."

"You better." We all scramble out of the cave and head different ways.

"Alrighty, how should we do this, where are we going to find out where the water is?"

"That's the problem." I feel the ground, picking up leaves, and the leaves are dry.

"Goddamn!" I yell.

"Shhh, shh." Taylor whispers.

"Fine."

Something drips on my head.

"Is that-" I start as I feel another drip of something on my head.

"What?"

"Water!" I yell in rejoice, looking up at the trees. Condensation drips off the leaves.

"Grab the rope and knives, I've got a hell of a good idea."

Taylor gets me the things I need, and I start scaling the tree, trying one side of the rope to a tree branch. I swing back down to the ground, and stick a stick in the ground, and tying the other side of the rope to it. I do that another three times to three different trees. Then, I shrug my jacket off, and tie it to the ropes almost like a roof to a house. I place a heavy stone in the middle of it. I look at my engineering skills. Leaves were facing downwards so the water dripped down into my jacket where we would collect it whenever we needed it.

"How did you do that so fast?"

"Magic." I smirk.

I look around us to only see a girl with a bow and arrow taking aim at us.

"TAYLOR, DUCK!" I scream, but it's too late. The arrow hits her in the shoulder and Taylor cries out in pain. I take the bow from Taylor's grip and load an arrow. I take close aim, and let it fly. It goes through the girl's skull, and another cannon goes off. I drop the bow and run to Taylor's side.

"Take it out!" She yells.

"No, no no, we can't do that, that will only lead to infection." I say.

Taylor sinks to her knees.

I crouch down, tilting her face up towards mine.

"Hey, listen to me. It's going to be okay. I got you. You're going to be okay. We're going to go back to the cave, and I'm gonna fix you right up, you hear?" I say calmly. Taylor nods her head, tears streaming out of her eyes. "I know it hurts. I know it hurts badly. It's going to take five minutes to get to the cave and settle down. Can you walk?"

Taylor attempts walking, but she's only half conscious, so I sling her good arm around my neck, and I wrap my arm around her waist.

"Here we go." I huff as we start walking.

"Is this going to turn into some kind of sappy love story where you save me?" Taylor giggles.

"Get the hell out." I laugh back.

We manage to make it to the cave without Taylor losing complete consciousness. I see that Taylor's shirt sleeve is doused with blood, and my shirt is a little bloody too.

"D'ya hear that?" Taylor mutters.

I suddenly hear a thumping of a container on the floor of the cave. It was a small container and had a parachute attached to it. I take it in my hands and open it up. It contains a syringe and a vial of some purple liquid and some gauze.

There's a note in it and it reads "Keep her drugged, Carter. Good luck, my friend. –J2"

"What is it?"

"Oh, nothing." I fill up the syringe with the apparent drug.

"You sure?"

"Mhm." I turn around and then inject her in the neck with the drug.

"What… did… you…" Taylor loses consciousness as I start to tend to her wound.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Hi guys. Sorry it's been so long. **

**School is tough, you know? Anyway, off the track of my school life. **

**Thanks for 550+ reads! Once again, it may not sound like a lot but it is to me. **

**I'll let you read now. **

**Don't forget to follow/favorite so you get a notification when I update. Also don't forget to review! I hope you all had/have a great day and I'll see you soon! **

**Disclaimer~ I don't own the Hunger Games, Divergent, Green Day or the song Boulevard of Broken Dreams.**

As I'm tending to Taylor's wound, I get the occasional moan and groan out of her. I thought she was drugged out, but I guess it must be wearing off; it was such a small dose. I am very grateful for it though, because if I didn't have it, I would have a screaming, hysterically crying, bloody, disgusting Taylor on my hands. It's bad enough that now blood cakes my hands. It's her blood, which is really kind of gross, in my opinion. Just as I'm wrapping her arm in medical tape that Matt grabbed, I hear two cannons go off. My mind immediately thinks of Matt and Tobias.

"No, no no no." I mutter, climbing up the path to above ground. Dirt sticks to the fresh, wet blood on my hands, but I don't care.

"Matt?" I call out, but not too loud, so no one can hear me and track me down. "Tobias?"

"Easy there buddy." I hear a familiar voice grunt. It was Matt. Tobias was leaning on him, his arm strung around Matt's neck.

"What the hell happened?"

"Just a little fistfight. We killed them off, it was one from Dauntless and one from Abnegation. Toby here got a little beat up, huh bud?" Matt readjusts his grip on Tobias.

"Where's… Taylor?" Tobias wheezes, standing up on his own.

"There was a slight incident. She was shot in the arm with an arrow. It's okay now, I have her all fixed up. I was actually going to get some water now if you would like to come with me to see how I have it set up." I offer.

"No, not her, not Taylor." Tobias mutters, sliding down into the cave.

"How about you, mister?" I smile a little bit.

"I would love too."

"No hand holding though." I show off my blood and dirt caked hands.

Matt holds up his, a little bit of Tobias' blood on it.

I grin and Matt walks next to me as we go to get water.

"Shit." I mutter as we start to walk.

"What?"

"I need to get the water bottles. Be right back." I say, jogging back to the cave, and sliding back into it.

To my surprise, Taylor was conscious again.

"How you feeling, champ?" I laugh a bit.

"Numb." She groans, pressing her head up against the cave wall. I rummage through bags, and find four water bottles, throwing them all in one bag, and I sling that bag over my back. I grip my sword in my right hand, turning the hilt over in my hand a couple times out of a bit of nervousness.

"Did you really have to drug her?" Tobias asks, narrowing his eyes at me.

"It was a gift from Jensen and Jared, so I'm going to use it. If she wasn't knocked out, she would be screaming and crying and thrashing around and that's how we get found and killed." I fake grin.

"Alright, sorry. I didn't realize it like that."

"Well next time you should." I climb back up to ground level.

I jog back to Matt, and he's sitting down on a boulder, scanning the woods carefully.

"Am I interrupting something?" I ask jokingly.

"This scenery is all just so beautiful." Matt takes it all in.

That's who Matt was, he was an observer. He noticed every little detail in everything. He always has, and that's never going to change. That was only a part of what made him a beautiful person, inside and out.

"There's got to be some kind of catch to it." I muster, tapping my toe against the ground. "Maybe we'll find out tomorrow." I shrug, and Matt stands up with an exasperated sigh. We start the hike to my water device, and Matt says something, breaking the silence.

"I hope there are stars."

"What?"

"Y'know, I hope there are stars in the sky tonight. If tonight is my last night on Earth, I want to see the stars one final time." Matt grins, looking up at the blue sky. "I mean, I get this isn't the actual sky, we're in an arena, but still. I want to see the stars. "

Matt plants something in my head that I ponder on. You take the littlest things in life for granted, but then when you might lose them, you want them more than ever. And right now, what I wanted more than ever was home. I never thought much of it, I just figured that everything would always be normal. Everyone had a house and family so it wasn't uncommon. Boy, was I wrong. I was whisked away from my home in the blink of an eye, and I regret taking it for granted. I miss the days where Dean would sit on my bed and read some of his book to me as I drew up blueprints. Or when little Sammy insisted that we played with his building blocks inside my room at one in the morning, when he couldn't sleep. I let him wake me up, of course. He'd eventually fall asleep, and I'd lay him down in my bed and let him sleep there. I would sleep on the two person couch in my room. Memories flood into my head as we walk along. Then, for some strange reason, song lyrics pop into my head.

_'I walk a lonely road, the only one I've ever known. Don't know where it goes, but it's home to me and I walk alone.'_

Boulevard of Broken Dreams by a band called Green Day. I start to sing it under my breath as we complete the trip to the water.

It was an old song, from generations before mine. I liked this song, it was one of my favorites. My dad introduced me into it. It's his favorite song.

"You made this?" Matt asks.

"Hm?" I say, obviously startled, coming out of my own personal bubble.

"Carter Winchester, always in her own little world." Matt chuckles, taking a few steps around the contraption.

I take out all four water bottles and unscrew the tops. In the middle of the device, I cut a small hole with my sword. I put the water bottle underneath it, and listen to the water hit against the metal of the bottle. I glance up to see how much water I had collected, and it was a pretty good amount, good enough to last of for two or three days.

"Carter?" I hear Matt say softly.

"Yeah babe?" I reply, screwing the top on the first bottle, starting to fill up the second.

"Is that your jacket in there?"

"Mhm." I say, filling up the rest of the bottles. When I'm done, I pinch the hole, stopping the flow of the water, and tying it shut with a piece of leftover rope. I toss Matt a water bottle full of crisp, fresh water. I open mine up and take a sip. This is the best thing I've ever had. I was thirsty and if I didn't get my hands on some water, I was going to probably go insane.

"Why did you put your jacket in there?" Matt continues asking questions, drinking water in between questions. The water satisfies him as it does to me. I pour some water on my hands, and scrub off the blood and dirt and grime.

"Because I needed to." I focus on my work, putting the bottles in my bag, and cleaning up a bit.

"Now you're going to be cold at night. Jensen told me it's going to be freezing cold temperatures at night."

"I'll manage."

"You can't just worry about the three of us all the time. You gotta watch out for yourself too, Winchester." Matt uses my last name, so I know he's kind of serious.

"One casualty is better than three." I shrug on the bag, and start the walk back to the cave.

"Carter, just do me a favor and watch out for yourself a bit? Promise me that?"

I sigh, knowing my boyfriend is right. "I promise." I nod my head.

Night comes quickly, and we had a wonderful dinner of dried fruit and beef jerky. Tonight, they played the nations anthem and showed the faces of all the dead tributes in the sky. I identify the ones we killed, and give a little nod to the sky, almost apologizing to them. We had four sleeping bags set up (Matt and Tobias got a few for us) and Matt and I offered to take first watch. Matt was right, it was cold. We sat outside the cave, me cradled in his arms with my sword in my belt, and his spear laying on the ground beside him. I he cradled me, trying to keep me warm. Inside my mind I pray that Jensen and Jared could get me a new coat. I brave through the cold, forcing myself not to shiver. It works, but I'm still a little cold. Matt and I lay outside in silence, but it wasn't awkward silence. I felt my pockets for my book, which I still had, and looked up at the sky Matt was dreaming and gazing about.

The sky was plastered with stars.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Hey guys! For this chapter, you're going to have to of read the rest of the story because I'm bringing back some key details. As of right now as I'm posting this, The Killer Angels has 598 reads. That is "Absolutely fantastic" ~The Ninth Doctor. I'd like to thank you all so much and keep the reads coming! **

**I'll let you read now. **

**Don't forget to follow/favorite so YOU get a notification when I update, and review this story too. I hope you all had/have a great day and I'll see you all soon.**

I awaken in my sleeping bag, not remembering going down there.

"Hey." Matt whispers, crouching down. He was already awake and fueled while I was just getting up.

"This came for you after you fell asleep." Matt tosses me a large parachute, and I tear it open. A new jacket waits inside for me, along with a note from Jensen.

'Don't you even think about doing that again, you complete idiot.' It reads. I snicker under my breath and whisper thank you, knowing that he was watching. I shrug on the jacket as I stand up, stretching. The sun hasn't risen yet, and I can barely see. Someone had started a small, smokeless fire inside our cave, and I used that as a guiding light to find my sword, my water bottle, and some food. I had a strip of the jerky, and then a sip of water. I splashed some water on my face to rid of a little of the dirt, blood and grime that was plastered upon me.

"Where's Taylor and Tobias?" I ask Matt with a yawn.

"They went for water."

"Oh. Okay."

"Come watch the sun rise with me." Matt grins like a kid in a candy shop.

"Alright, alright, I'll come with you."

Matt is thrilled with my agreement, and he climbs up into open air. I follow him, and when I reach ground level, he's sitting against the cave wall, admiring the sun just starting to peak over the horizon. I sit next to him, and he wraps his arm around me, pulling me into him. We watch the sun rise slowly, and the morning sky is orange with a bit of pink mixed into it. It was absolutely breathtaking and I wish I could never leave this moment. When the sun has finally fully risen, Taylor and Tobias finally come back.

"Hey, how's your arm?" I ask Taylor.

"Sore." She says, throwing our water bottles down into the cave. "But I can still do stuff."

"That's good." I say.

Suddenly, a gong of some sort goes off.

"What the hell was that?" Tobias ecstatically says. Matt and I jump to our feet.

We hear a tree fall, and tributes screaming. Everything starts to smell like smoke.

"They're burning us out!" Tobias yells.

"Hurry, go grab your bags and weapons and run!" Matt yells, jumping down into the cave.

I stop dead in my tracks.

Fire.

They're burning us out.

Memories flood into my head, and fear takes over my body.

I'm a little kid again, and I'm surrounded by fire. My youngest brothers are burning alive as I do nothing about it. I ask myself the most important question again, just one last time.

Do I do it? Do I run back into the flames?

I come back to reality.

I don't pay attention, but I feel Matt press a bag into my hands, and they take off. I turn around, and the entire forest is burning down.

No.

I will not die in a fire. I already almost did that once.

Fear kicks in and I bolt the opposite way, running faster than ever before, tears streaming down my face, with Taylor and Tobias and Matt behind me.

A fireball whizzes by my head and strikes a tree in front of me, knocking me off my feet.

"Carter come on!" Matt cries out, but it's like I lost all strength getting up.

Another fireball whizzes towards me, but I roll to my side. Matt comes back to me, pulling me to my feet.

"Carter! What are you doing? Get out of here, go!" I'm frozen in my boots. Matt seems panicked, and I try to move but I can't. Fear has completely taken over my mind.

"I'm scared." I whimper.

"I know you are, I know this is your biggest fear, I get that, but has anyone told you that fear is a superpower? When you're scared you run faster, jump higher, fight better than you've ever have before. All you gotta do now Carter is run. Do that for me." I can barely nod my head, and Matt pulls me along, and I go through the woods, stumbling along, trying to keep up with Taylor, Tobias and Matt.

Suddenly, it all stops, all the fire stops. We'd been running for about an hour, and then it stopped, just like that. I sat down on a log, with my head in my hands, running my hands nervously through my hair. Someone sits down next to me, and it's Matt. I bury my head in his chest and sob.

"Shh, I got you now. It's okay, I've got you." Matt coaxes me, running his hand over my back.

Four cannons go off. Four kids were killed in the fire.

"It's done now, it's all gone."

I take my head out of Matt's chest and he kisses my forehead.

"I'm going to go take a walk. I'll be back in like a half an hour." I say, wiping my eyes.

"Alright. Love you." Matt kisses me, slowly. His lips taste like smoke.

"Love you too." I reply.

Taylor and Tobias stand there in silence. It's awkward when you watch someone have a nervous breakdown.

I walked back in the direction that we came in, and take in deep, smoky breaths, trying to contain myself. Ash is picked up from the wind and is floating through the air around me like snow, gently falling down to the ground. What a way to wake up. Now, for some reason, I'm not afraid of the flames. Take that fire, you no longer scare me to death. Ha.

I reach my hand up, and catch a piece of ash in my hand, and smile at it.

I am not afraid of you anymore.

I hear footsteps.

"Matt?" I say aloud. "Taylor? Tobias?" I scan the area, and I don't see anyone. It must have just been a figment of my imagination. I exhale slowly, then feel a hand on my mouth, and another hand wrapped around my front, holding a knife to my throat.

"Scream, and the other three die. You scream, they'll come after you, and I order my other guys to kill you. You come with me now." A voice says behind me. It was a boy. I knew this voice, even though I had never had a conversation with him.

The innocent boy, the goody two shoes who does no harm.

It's Ryan Grace.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: hey guys I'm really sorry it's been a long time since I've updated, I've been really busy. **

I squirm in his grip, trying to get way. I pray that my plan works, and I can run far away from him and escape. What the hell am I trying to do, get away from Ryan. It's not going to work.

"No , no no." Ryan teases softly. "Don't try to escape, I'll just kill you nice and slowly, instead of giving you a quick death. Here, how about this, I'll take my hand off your mouth if you promise not to scream."

I quickly nod my head up and down, wanting to get his dirt-sweat-dried blood covered hand off my mouth. "One, two, three." He whispers in my ear and removes his hand from my mouth. I kick him in the groin and get out of his grip, and he strikes me down again, kicking me in the side over and over and over again. He brings me to my feet by the collar of my shirt and connects his fist with my face with a bone crunching crack. His fist connects with my gut and I double over, sputtering out blood, trying to regain my breath. n

"Please… stop please. I'm sorry." I gasp, bright red blood trickling out of my mouth like a stream.

"Fine. Now you know what it's like when you disobey me, Carter." Ryan drags me along by my jacket sleeve to his camp, which was a cave that he found. I was starting to hate caves.

"What do you want with me?" I manage to say as he shoves me into the cave.

"I've already had three tributes do this for me. They're dead now. They were idiots. You're going to do the killing for me. You're kind of going to be my personal assistant until I decide to kill you." Ryan smiles maniacally.

"What do you mean?" I gasp.

"I will tell you to go out and hunt someone down and kill them. You will do so, then come back here to me. You will kill one person every day until I am done with you, or I have you do something else around here. As you can see" Ryan wipes blood off my lip with his thumb. "If you go against me, I'm going to beat you until you want to kill yourself. Don't try calling for help because I will go out and kill your precious Matthew and Taylor and Tobias myself."

"Please." I interrupt him. "Do what you want to me, hit me all you want, just don't kill them." I beg.

"Determined, eh?"

I say nothing.

"You can start out by sharpening all these." Ryan throws a bunch of knives, spears and swords in front of me. I slouch against the cave wall, getting started.

"Kneel." He grumbles and throws a rock at my arm. I wince in pain, but kneel. I give in, not wanting to hurt anymore. I spend the time until nightfall sharpening weapons. Soon, after dark, Ryan had given me a rabbit leg that he cooked. I ate it right up, and drank some of the water he gave me. After that, we heard voices. Ryan quickly put out the fire, and cupped his hand over my mouth. There was a little bit of light above ground, whoever it was had torches.

"Carter?" A familiar voice called out. It was Taylor.

"Come on Carter, please be out here." It was Matt this time. Ryan pressed his hand down on my mouth exceptionally hard. Then the anthem started to play and the dead's faces appeared in the sky.

"She's not up there." Tobias added in.

I squeeze my eyes shut.

"Maybe she's just lost." Taylor was trying to comfort Matt.

Notice me, Matt! I'm right here! Please, Matthew, look down! I am right here!

"What if we don't find her?" Matt starts to cry.

"Aw, buddy, we will." Taylor assures him.

"And if we don't, we kill every son of a bitch here and win for her." Tobias grumbles.

"D'ya smell that?" Matt asks. Ryan shoves me behind a wall where if they came in, they wouldn't be able to see me.

"Smells like smoke." Taylor justifies. Ryan was dumb enough to light a fire in here. I hate his guts.

"You yell, I kill you all." Ryan whispers in my ear.

My friends started to poke and prod around and Matt finally came in the cave. Ryan screamed, showing fake mercy.

"Please don't kill me." He whimpers.

Matt, please, please notice me.

"Hey man, okay, okay I'm not going to hurt you." Matt sighs.

Ryan shakes in his own boots.

"Just tell me, have you seen a girl around here, Erudite, 18, brown hair, pretty tall, like 5'9 ish, probably carrying a sword?" Matt describes me to Ryan. Of course he'd seen her.

Ryan quickly shakes his head.

"Who's blood on the floor, you're not hurt." Matt takes notice of my dried blood on the cave floor.

"My, um ally. He bled to death." Ryan lies stealthily.

"I'm sorry, man. Good luck." Matt climbs out of the cave, and I hear him and Taylor and Tobias walk off. Matt showed Ryan sympathy, and I realized that I would have too.

The next week was hell. Ryan tortured me like you couldn't believe it. I killed 7 kids. Ryan would have me go out in the morning with an assignment to kill someone, and I would do it, in fear of getting beat up, or worse. Did I want to kill these kids? No way. I did it for my own safety. On the eight morning, I decided to make a stand. If I was going to die anyway, why not now?

I was scared.

No, scratch that. I was terrified. And if I was gonna die anyway, now would be a great time to go.

"Alright, today I want the eighteen year old girl from Dauntless dead." Ryan tells me. It's Taylor. I was absolutely not going to kill Taylor. Ryan had all his kills planned out strategically, so this must be important.

"No!" I yell.

Ryan raises his hand over his head, and I flinch back. Eight days of torture could do a lot to a person. I was now terrified of anyone touching me.

"What do you mean, no?"

"I mean I will not kill Taylor. I am sick of you hurting me, you little asshole!" I pick up a knife off the floor. Ryan slaps it out of my hand, and shoves me to the ground. He kicks me hard in the leg and I let out a scream.

I do what I had been doing the past week to keep my cool. I run over the lines in my head again. My name is Carter Rose Winchester. I am 18 years old. I was reaped into the Hunger Games. My parents are John and Mary Winchester. My brothers are Gabriel, Dean, and Sam Winchester. My boyfriend's name is Matthew Oswald. I used to be normal, then I was put into a fight to the death. My other friends are Taylor Harrison and Tobias Eaton. Stay calm, Winchester, and everything will be alright.

"CARTER!" I heard yelling and footsteps crashing through the woods.

It was Matt. I was so weak, I couldn't feel his attacks anymore, I just curled up into a ball, trying to protect my head.

I was terrified.

Matt and Tobias came storming into the cave just as Ryan picked up a knife. He raised it up above his head, and plunged it down, into my back. I let out a bloodcurdling scream. It feels like I've been pricked with a million red hot needles, and stung by a hundred bees. Let's just say it hurts like hell. I feel blood start to trickle out of my mouth as I manage to roll onto my stomach. I start to panic. I hear the cries of Ryan, then it's silent, and a cannon goes off. Matt and Tobias rush to my side, and I'm scared, and about to go unconscious.

"DON'T HIT ME! DON'T HIT ME!" I scream at the top of my lungs, using all my energy to bring my hands up over my head.

I am at my breaking point.

"No, no, dear." Matt says softly. "Not us."

"Don't hurt me." I whimper.

"We won't, Car. It's gonna be okay, I promise." Tobias says. They both life me up, carrying me. We walk through the woods while I'm bleeding everywhere and in immense pain. I almost make it to the cave before I black out, leaving the world behind me.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Hey guys I have a four day weekend off school so I'll be updating pretty often. So thanks for 860+ reads! I was rally excited about that. **

**So my copy of The Blood of Olympus should be here today. I hope. It should be because I ordered it off amazon prime. Thanks Amazon prime for delivering my crap in 2 days. **

**I'll let you read now. Don't forget to follow/favorite so you get a notification when I update. Also leave a review so I know how I'm doing! I hope you all had/have a great day and I'll talk to you soon.**

My eyes flutter open, and I feel my face pressed up against a rough dirt floor. My left leg is numb, and there is something wrapped around my back. A knife with a bloody blade lies on the other side of the room. Dried blood cakes my body. I don't know where I am, but I need to get out. I push myself up to my feet, but realize that my left leg is bad and limp. I can't move it. There's a slicing pain in my back, and I crumple to my knees in agony. I let out a small grunt, and lay on my stomach with my left leg sticking out like a sore thumb.

"Hey, hey hey, shh, I got you." A soft, familiar voice coos, placing a hand on my shoulder. I wince in fear at their touch.

It's Tobias.

"Where am I?" I ask, my throat dry.

"You are in the Four Eaton hospital rehabilitation center." Tobias jokes.

"Water." My throat is parched. "I need water."

Tobias lifts a cool water bottle to my mouth and lets the smooth, cold liquid flow into my mouth and dribble down my chin. Water had never tasted so good.

"I can't move my left leg. It's like it's paralyzed." I tell Tobias.

"Something probably happened with your spinal cord and your nerves. Sorry about that kiddo."

"Where's Matt and Taylor? How long was I out for?"

"They're getting food. You were out for three days. There's 13 of us left."

"Good to know, good to know." I mutter.

"You were in a pretty bad condition back there."

"I was scared. Correction. I am scared."

"Don't be. This is gonna be over soon. Why don't we check out that wound of yours?"

Tobias lifts up my shirt and unravels the bandages and takes the blood soaked gauze pads off me.

Tobias gives me his jacket to bite down on as he cleans the wound. The pours antiseptic on it and I scream in pain. It seemed as though a thousand bullets were piercing through my back. It hurt like hell.

By the way Tobias was looking at it, I could tell it wasn't looking too good. I promised myself right then and there that I would live, I would make it through.

"How's it look?" I ask.

"Great." Tobias says with a fake smile. He reapplies gauze pads and wraps it up in tan bandaging.

Ten minutes later, the chills came. I was so damn cold that I could barely think. I was in my jacket, Tobias' jacket and a sleeping bag wrapped around me. Then, it got hot. I was sweating all over, and I shed the jackets and the sleeping bag, and threw them off to the side.

In a half an hour, Taylor and Matt came back.

"Hey, look who's conscious again." Taylor smiles.

She hands me some berries to eat, and I do, the sweet food satisfying my hunger to some degree.

Matt gives me a big hug, and I almost shove him off me, I was so scared. He looked into my eyes and kissed me, and to my utter surprise, I kissed back, the corners of my lips tugging into a smile. Tobias had pulled Matt and Taylor aside, and muttered something to them. Matt had a gloomy look on his face afterword, but hid it from me with a smile. I could read him like a book right now, and he didn't even know it.

After the chills came the hallucinations. I didn't even know it. Someone went out, and came back in. It was my mentor, Jensen.

"Jensen." I smile. I somehow manage to bring myself to my feet, and I stumble a few steps forwards before Jensen catches me in his arms.

"No no, it's not Jensen, it's Matt, remember?" Jensen sets me back down again.

"No, I don't want him, I want Jensen, I want the green eyed one!" I yell.

"Shh, no, he's not here."

"Stop lying to yourself! You're right there!" I scream, poking him in the chest.

"You're hallucinating. Tobias said this would happen. It's me Matthew. Remember? Matthew Oswald your best friend. Your boyfriend."

Taylor comes into the room.

"Taylor, Jensen's gone crazy, he's insane!" I tell her, panicking just a little bit.

"I don't think that's him going crazy, sorry to tell you Carter." Taylor chuckles.

"A little help?" Jensen asks.

"Carter, you're seeing things. You're seeing things that aren't real. Go sleep Carter, everything will be okay when you wake up." Taylor instructs me.

Somehow, I fall asleep, and have no dreams. I woke up with a groan, and Matt was sitting beside me.

" I need some fresh air." I tell him, sitting up.

He helps me to my feet, slinging my arm around his neck for walking support and helps me up to ground level. I stare at the trees, the grass, the flowers, my surrounding for a good couple of seconds before I'm the first to speak.

"So what's the plan? How are we going to win?"

"We're thinking that when there is only a couple more tributes left other then ourselves, we're going to draw them to the cornucopia and then blow them up with the grenades that you got a long time ago."

"It sounds like a good plan." I say honestly.

"Really?" I was worried that you would hate it." Matt chuckles.

"What do we do when we go home?" I ask.

"I guess we try to forget."

"Good. I want to forget."

"I don't." Matt stares at the sky.

"You want to remember what happened in this hell hole?" I inquire.

"I just don't want it to be done and over with. We're never going to forget this, Carter."

"What did Tobias say to you before?" I demand an answer.

"Nothing."

"Tell me." I grit my teeth together, pain shooting up my back.

"Do you really want to know?" Matt starts getting angry.

"Yeah, I do!" I yell, a wave of anger flowing through my veins.

"He said" Matt starts, but his voice gets soft. "He said that your back is infected. If we don't get out of here soon, it will spread, and then you would probably die." Matt pulls me into a hug, and I hug him tightly, never wanting to let go.

"D'ya know what that means then?" I ask.

"Hm?"

"We go out and kill every single sonovabitch out there. And then, we go home."


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Hi guys! After this chapter, there is only gonna be like two or three more chapters. **

**DON'T WORRY! I WILL BE WRITING A SEQUEL CALLED THE FALLEN ANGELS!**

**My best friend dauntlessquiddich (an amazing writer btw go check her out) and I are going to go see the 1D movie today. I don't even like them. (no h8) I won't bore you with my personal life anymore. **

**Please favorite/follow so you get an update when I update and don't forget to review as well. I hope you all had/have a great day and I'll see you all soon.**

After that intense moment, Matt started to break down.

"You can't leave me, you've gotta hang on." Hot tears spill down his face, dripping onto my boot.

"Hey, hey, don't cry." I wipe his tears away gently.

"It's all gonna be okay. We're all going to live. It's not like we're all going to die in a big explosion or something." I chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

"I could deal with us dying together, but not for one second can I imagine us apart, Carter. It breaks my heart in two to hear all of this."

"Yeah, I kind of feel the same way. But we need to forget about all this, we need to fix me up and pretend like I'm not even hurt and go do some tribute hunting." I smile.

"Fine. That's what we'll do. Where's Taylor and Tobias?" Matt asks.

"I think they found some brook, and they were going to get water." I inform Matt.

"You know what I should do while we wait for them to get back, Carter?"

"What?" I was kind of afraid of what he was going to say.

"I am going to make you a splint so you don't have to lean on me anymore."

"Sounds like a good idea, Matthew." Matt's eyebrows raise and he smirks when he hears me address him by his full name.

He started getting to work. Half an hour later, I had a splint on my left leg, hidden by my pant leg. Matt did a fantastic job, and now instead of having to lean on someone to walk, I could hobble around. Taylor and Tobias eventually came back, and Tobias was a little hesitant about letting me go at first, but then Taylor convinced him to let me go. When Taylor pressed my sword into my hand, it felt right, and I grinned from ear to ear, turning it over in my hand constantly. One of them had been nice enough to clean the hilt of blood.

So with that, we headed off into the woods, creeping around for someone to kill.

Wow. You don't say that every day.

I was considerably slower than Matt, Taylor and Tobias, and every few minutes, I got asked "You good?" Every time, I would reply with a simple nod of my head. Other than the pain in my back, I thought I was ok, for my conditions. Finally, we saw smoke. We saw smoke from a fire nearby. We crept up on the campsite, and saw that there was 5 kids there, one from each faction. Tobias counted down when we would attack, and on one, we did. I went at the Amity kid, and stabbed him from behind, plunging my sword into his back, and thrusting it back out. Five cannons go off, and five innocent children lay dead on the ground. Taylor salvaged some food, and then we were off again. We never stopped, really. It was just an endless cycle of eat, sleep, kill, repeat. I wasn't exactly proud of this, but it would have to do for now.

What other choice did I have?

There was now 8 of us left.

"Do you guys know what this means?" Tobias asks.

"What?" I was confused.

"This is where we kill the rest of the tributes, and then we go home. We're so close, I can almost taste it." Tobias grins like a maniac, and it scares me.

"Come on, let's go back and plan." Taylor tries to calm Tobias down.

"That sounds like a better idea." I add in.

So, we went back to the cave and started planning.

"We're going to need something to draw them in, to bring them to the cornucopia." Matt says.

"I can do that." I say.

"No, I'm not letting you go out there." Matt sternly says.

"Look, they just want us dead so they can go home. I'm hurt. If they see that, then they'll come after me, then that's when you act. Who is left, anyway?"

"Just like us. Two Erudite and two Dauntless." Taylor adds.

"They're not going to be dumb, they're not just going to come, they need something to lure them in."

"No I won't le-"

"She's right, Matt. As much as it kills me to say it, she's right. They're just like us. They're bloodthirsty and they just wanna go home."

"Fine." Matt grumbles, upset that he lost the argument."

"So how many grenades do we have?"

"Seven." Taylor was in charge of inventory.

"That should be enough. So what we'll do is have Carter by the Cornucopia, the grenades all around it, and then someone will be inside the Cornucopia. When they come to get Carter, whoever is inside will get her out of there, and pull the pins. After you pull the pins on these things, you have one minute before they blow up, so you gotta be fast." Tobias says.

"Then two of us will be waiting at the woodsline just in case anything happens." Tobias finishes his master plan.

"I'll go inside the cornucopia." Matt volunteers himself.

"When do we do this?" I ask.

"Tomorrow." Tobias answers my question rapidly. I sigh, and run my hands through my hair.

"It's been nice knowing you all." I chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

"It's been quite the journey." Taylor pipes in.

"Indeed." Tobias shakes his head.

"Well we can all say we died together or we lived through it all together." Matt tries to see the good and bad side of the situation.

"But hey, we're all in this together, am I right?" Tobias asks.

"You're insane." I mutter.

"Yeah, I know."

"Asshat." I mutter, remembering the beginning of the Games.

"Back at ya, Winchester." I shake my head.

For dinner, we ate dried fruit, pretzels and ice cold water, laughing beside a fire.

Matt and I decided to take first watch, so we went up above ground and watched the stars. We saw the faces of the kids we killed in the sky, and one hot tear spills out of my eye.

"Hey, it's all gonna be over tomorrow. We'll be back home in no time." Matt kisses me gently, and I kiss back.

"I know."

"We'll get to see our families again." Matt grins.

"Yeah."

"You know, they're watching right now. Hi Dad!" Matt waves into space.

I break into hysterics.

"Hi Mom and Dad. Hi Gabe. Hi Dean. Hi Sammy." I laugh into the night.

"Hey see, I got you smiling." Matt teases.

"You did, Matt. You sure did."


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Hi guys. Hope you didn't get too attached to some characters because this one is a sad one. **

**There's only one chapter left, then my sequel The Fallen Angels. (Yes I won't leave you for a year with a major cliffhanger *cough* Rick Riordan *cough*)**

**So really that's all I have to say. **

**Don't forget to follow/favorite so you get a notification when I update and don't forget to review as well. I hope you all have/had a great day and I'll see you all soon.**

In the morning, we were awoken at sunrise by Tobias.

"Ready to go home?" He grins, shoving backpacks in our hands.

Today was the day we were going home. We were going to do it, we were going to win the Hunger Games. Matt and I ate some berries and drank water before we started to set up. We had to cover all of our traces up and then set up our grand scheme. We spent about five entire hours cleaning up our tracks around the arena.

We were just heading to the Cornucopia when I tripped over a rock and my back wound burst open again.

"Oh crap." I mutter, stumbling to my feet. I could already feel hot blood draining through my shirt.

"No, no, Carter, you can't do this now." Matt tries to protect me.

"It's okay." I grunt. "It will look realer."

"We'll try to hurry up." Taylor promises. When we reach the Cornucopia, most of the back of my shirt was covered in blood.

"Just hold on, it's gonna be over soon." Taylor says, her and Tobias starting to scatter the grenades around the cornucopia. When they're done, they give Matt and I strict instructions.

"When you pull the pins you gotta be fast. You gotta pick her up and get the hell out of here. Start from the opposite side that she's on. Pull the first pin when they're coming for her. When you get her, you run as far away as possible, we'll be right by your side. Good luck man." I actually see Tobias start to tear up as he hugs Matt. Taylor hugs me gently, not wanting to hurt me.

"Good luck." She mutters, pulling away.

"I'm gonna need it." I smirk.

"Don't we all?"

Tobias hugs me, saying I'm sorry over and over again.

"It's been a pleasure fighting with you guys." Tobias jokes. "I love you guys."

"Ditto." I add.

Everyone agrees with us. Taylor and Tobias hike into the woods, and they hide in the brush.

"This could be it, Car." Matt sighs. We stand in the middle of an open field. It was breathtaking.

"It could be."

"I want you to know that I love you no matter what happens."

"I love you too." I reply, starting to get emotional.

Matt leans in slowly and kisses me. I kiss back, and judge it the best kiss I've ever had. Our lips pull apart slowly, and I hug him.

"It's going to be okay." Matt coos.

"You always say that."

"Yeah, I know."

"See you later, Matthew."

"You'll be the death of me, Carter Winchester." Matt smiles and shakes his head.

I lay down on the ground, curling up on my side.

"Scream or something." Matt says after five minutes of me laying there.

I let out a ear piercing scream in pain. I couldn't make myself scream realistically just by laying there, so in braveness, I hit my wound with my hand. I started to see black rings in my vision. My voice cracks and my back arches, and I manage to calm down. It hurt all around and my heart rate started to increase.

Suddenly, almost staged, I hear cries of "It's the injured one! Get her!" I look up and just at the forest line, I see four kids sprinting out of the woods, three boys and a girl. I rise to my feet and Matt starts pulling pins.

"Go." He mutters as I start to run/limp. I almost reach the woods, but I give up, I can't do it. It hurts me too much. I am too weak.

To my surprise, Matt comes behind me and swiftly picks me up as he sprints into the woods, Taylor and Tobias ahead of us. I hear the first explosion go off, and then a couple seconds later, the second and third. We're not far enough away. Explosions go off, and I can't hear anything. Matt manages to stay on his feet until the last two explosions. We are blasted through the air, and I feel warm blood on my skin, but it's not mine. Everything is quiet, then I hear five cannons. I quickly stand up. Five cannons was not right. Four were supposed to go off. That means that either Taylor or Tobias is dead. I start to cry, calling out their names.

"Carter." Matt croaks from the ground. I look down and see that a good chunk of his torso has been blown off.

No.

Not my Matt.

Not my Matthew Oswald, the little boy who I grew up with in Erudite, the boy that I grew to know, the boy I told everything, the boy I loved.

My little boy was dying.

"Matt." I kneel down next to him, one of my tears dripping onto his face. Another cannon goes off, but it wasn't Matt's cannon. Taylor and Tobias were both dead.

"Don't leave me, Matt. We won." I sob.

"I love you Carter." Matt wheezes.

"I love you too."

"You one, baby girl, you won." He grins, blood, dirt, and grime covering his face.

"No, we won."

"My dad is going to be so pissed." Matt chuckles.

"Hang on, we're almost there! They're probably coming for us now." I nod.

"He's creeping up on me alright." Matt smirks.

"Who?" I ask.

"Death."

"Don't say that!" I scream.

"Remember that time when we were fifteen and we had a day off of school and we sat outside all day, watching the clouds go by?"

"Mhm." I nod, remembering one of the best days of my life.

"I was going to tell you that I loved you, but I chickened out." Matt smiles, bringing his hand up to my cheek. I lean down and kiss him gently, trying not to hurt him.

I hear the sounds of a helicopter above us.

"Hang on, buddy, almost there."

"Until next time, Carter Rose." Matt smiles, saying his last words.

I smile.

"See ya round, Matthew."

"I'll see you on the other side."

"No, please." I beg him, but he grins and takes his last breath.

"NO!" I cry out as the cannon goes off.

"PLEASE!" I scream, taking his head in my hands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present the victor of the First Annual Hunger Games, Carter Winchester!"

The helicopter lands on the ground beside me, and Jensen and Jared pull the door open.

"Come on, Car, come with us." Jensen says softly, stepping out, and pulling me in.

"WE HAVE TO GO BACK!" I scream, tears flowing out of my eyes like water runs out of a faucet.

"It's too late Carter, I'm sorry." Jared says, a single tear drops out of his eye.

"We have to get his body, we have to save him, please, Jensen, please!" I scream.

"CARTER!" Jensen roars.

I shut up.

"I'm sorry. There's not enough time, Tobias died in the explosion, he hit a rock head on. Taylor had shrapnel buried in her chest, and, well you saw Matt. Look, you're hurt and could die too, if that infection spreads. We need to get you fixed up." Jensen calms me down.

A nurse comes behind me, and puts a mask over my face. I breath in whatever they're pumping to me, and I black out. The last thing I see is Jensen starting to sob.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Hi guys. This is it. This is the last chapter. **

**Do not worry, I will be writing a sequel, and then possibly another follow up. **

**My friend dauntlessquiddich and I were discussing endings to our fanfics and we gave each other really good ideas. **

**Yes, I know this chapter is really short. Deal with it. **

**As of right now, we've got 945 reads and 7 follow/favorites and 12 reviews. That's pretty damn good. **

**It's been a pleasure writing for you guys, and I'll see you all soon for The Fallen Angles. **

I woke up screaming. I was drenched in sweat, and my breathing was heavy.

"Damn it, Carter." I mutter to myself. It had been two nights, and I had done it both times.

I had another Arena nightmare.


	26. Author's Note

**A/N: Hi everyone! **

**I'd like to thank everyone here for reviewing and following and all that stuff and 1K READS! THAT'S INSANE!**

**So again, thanks. **

**THE FALLEN ANGELS, the sequel to this IS PUBLISHED! GO CHECK IT OUT! **

**Thanks guys, see you all soon ;)**


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